The day Thibaut Courtois sustained the injury that might have ended his season before it had begun, he arrived home, bandage covering the whole of his left leg, slowly got out of his car and told the friend waiting for him: "I'm going to win the Champions League; there's still time."
Nine months and a second torn ligament later, this time in the other knee, after seemingly endless hours of work, the pain and the fear, and with the help of surgeons, physios and the goalkeeper who took Real Madrid there in his absence, he could. And with that, he has won already.
It was 10 August, a morning when, according to his wife, Mishel Gerzig, something didn't feel quite right, and two days before Madrid's opening game away at Athletic. In training at Valdebebas, Courtois had pushed out a shot and as he went towards the ball dropping near Rodrygo, something went.
Falling to the turf, his screams were unlike anything his teammates had heard. They knew immediately something was seriously wrong and the diagnosis confirmed it: he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. His season, he was told, was virtually over. "You never expect anything like this," Courtois wrote that evening.
"Now it's time to accept it and do everything and come back stronger." The prognosis was not made public but after an operation in Madrid on 17 August it was anticipated it would take eight or nine months before he could play again.
Even then, it was unlikely that he would be fully fit, let alone at his best; some players are never quite the same. There were no set dates and there would be a major setback, but the calculations just about gave him the margin to make it. He and his backup, Andriy Lunin, did the rest.
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin May 30, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin May 30, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
First mass 24-hour event to help people put down their phones
Haunted by a pile of unread books? Or taunted by outdoor kit lurking in the cupboard? If you are one of the British adults who spends on average five hours a day looking at screens rather than participating in pastimes, perhaps it's time to join the offline revolution.
No longer the king of bling The staggering fall of rap star Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Center is, for the foreseeable future, home to Puff Daddy, AKA Sean Combs, one of the best-known voices in American entertainment and whose business empire once seemed to know no bounds.
Brandenburg stakes Last-minute push by German far right in key regional election
B jörn Höcke shielded his eyes from the lights as he peered from the stage into the crowds gathered on a square in front of a gothic church in central Cottbus.
'It's guerrilla war' The fire teams facing arson chaos in Amazon
The occupants of the military tents at this remote jungle camp in Brazil's wild west T survey the hellscape surrounding them.
"The horror of it' Trial of husband and 50 men accused of wife's rape shakes France
On the narrow streets of stone houses with pastel-blue shutters, residents of Mazan were appalled that this picturesque village in Provence was being referred to in the media as \"the village of the rapists\".
West End revival Will a traffic ban lure shoppers back to Oxford Street?
From the rooftop of John Lewis's flagship store, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, laid out the changes planned for Oxford Street below: \"We want a public realm that is world class, green, healthy and safe but also increases footfall in the shops.\"
Live and let fly James Bond chopper firm awaits decision on £1bn deal
The Merlin helicopter sitting on a factory floor in Yeovil is a sight familiar to James Bond aficionados from the climactic shootout of the 2012 film Skyfall.
Mental illness is Britons' biggest health concern, survey finds
Mental health has overtaken cancer and obesity as the health issue that is the biggest cause of concern for most Britons, a global survey reveals.
Noise, crime, crowds Rise in tourism stokes tensions in bustling Lake District town
Even on a weekday afternoon at the very tail end of summer, Bowness-onWindermere is bustling with life. Outside the town's pubs and bars, drinkers sip lager and sparkling wine in the warm September sun.
EU's new proposals on youth mobility will put Starmer 'reset' to test
Fresh proposals to allow young people to move between Britain and the EU will be presented to the British government within weeks, in what is seen as a significant early test of Labour's \"reset\" in relations with Brussels.
