Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois was interviewed by Onda Cero. In the sixth part of this exclusive interview, Courtois discussed Real Madrid's performances this season, Barcelona and Raphinha, the Ballon d'Or selection, and the place of goalkeepers in the Ballon d'Or.

After winning the championship and the Champions League with Ancelotti in 2024, after such a successful period, is a dip in form inevitable?

That's football. I think that no matter how much we want to maintain stability, football always has its ups and downs because there are many uncertainties in a season, and a lot happens during it. I don't think you necessarily have to go through a difficult period to win titles again, but it often happens.

Sometimes it might just be that your hunger to win is 1% weaker, so you don't win, or other teams have more hunger for victory than usual because they need to win, and they end up winning. So I think we need to rediscover everything. I think we've done well this year. Ultimately, I think the two league matches we lost were more down to us not taking our chances to win them.

Do you think this will be a year of change?

I believe so. I sense a change in everyone, including their work ethic, desire, and mentality. I think everyone wants to win. I don't think there's anyone here who doesn't want to win.

In terms of playing style, are the issues you identified last season gradually being resolved?

I believe so. Ultimately, we've worked on it, but we haven't been together for long. The team has many new players and a new coach. After a very long World Cup, everyone needed to get back into rhythm, learn each other, and find the structure we want on the pitch.

I think sometimes we've been very close. There have been many matches where we played well, and some where we could have done better in certain aspects, because there's very little margin for error in football now. If you miss a few chances in one box and the opponent takes a few extra chances in the other, you can suddenly lose the match.

For example, against Betis, that's what I felt. But in my opinion, we played very well against Betis, and there was nothing wrong with the quality of the match itself.

The same goes for Atlético Madrid; they're always a difficult opponent. The first half, in my view, was very balanced, and I don't think either team had a clear advantage. We had more possession and sometimes found space, but they defended very well because they're a very solid defensive team. After the start of the second half, after 5 to 10 minutes, we had a player sent off. At that point, we lost our composure on the ball. Then they quickly scored two goals, and it took us time to recover. But after pulling one back, I think if the match had gone another 10 minutes, we could have equalized.

Do you think Barcelona is as good as everyone currently sees them?

They're playing very well right now. Ultimately, they're a team that scores goals very easily, so they can win matches.

For example, Raphinha—after a summer of transfer rumors involving Julián Álvarez—did you expect him to put in such a performance?

I like Raphinha a lot. I've always considered him a very important member of Barcelona. When he's not there, I think Barcelona is severely affected, and when he's on the pitch, the team plays well. So I think Raphinha sometimes doesn't get the credit he deserves. He's a very crucial member of this team and can score many goals because he's an excellent player. However, in a month, we'll need to find a way to stop him, won't we?

You also have a good reputation. During the World Cup this summer, I was with Unai Simón, and I gave him a goalkeeper test. I kept asking him "Oblak or Casillas," and he chose Casillas. Then when I asked about Courtois, he waved his hand and said: "That's it."

Yes, I saw that too. When I was interviewed, Belgian television also showed me that video. Ultimately, I'm certainly happy to see a colleague speak about you like that. Because, after all, everyone knows more or less who the top goalkeepers are, but not everyone really understands the position. So when a colleague compliments you like that, I think it's a wonderful thing.

And he was honest, because he could easily have given a different answer to be considerate toward his national team teammate David Raya.

Yes, that often happens. Now that I'm Real Madrid's goalkeeper, it might not be prudent for Barcelona's goalkeeper to compliment me publicly or choose me, even though he might have mentioned my name the year before. But in my opinion, these are just insignificant mind games. I have no problem publicly praising Lamine Yamal because the facts are there—he's playing exceptionally well on the pitch; similarly, Barcelona's players can openly admit that Mbappé is scoring goals like crazy.

Now there's a lot of talk about whether Yamal or Mbappé is the favorite for this year's Ballon d'Or.

Both have had brilliant performances. But I think there will be other players on the shortlist—for example, Kane certainly has a chance, as does Bellingham. In my opinion, the Ballon d'Or should be awarded to the player with the best individual performance throughout the year, and it shouldn't be based simply on collective honors. After all, it's an individual award, not about which team won the most trophies. If you only look at team trophies, then if Paris Saint-Germain had won the Champions League and Spain won the World Cup, by that logic, Carvajal should have won the Ballon d'Or two years ago. Carvajal's performance that year was phenomenal and fully deserved the award. So the Ballon d'Or doesn't necessarily have to go to a player from the winning team; even if a player's team won nothing, but he scored a hundred goals in a single season and his individual dominance was unmatched, then he's the deserving player of the year.

So if you had to choose, would your pick be Mbappé?

For me, yes. You just have to have been on the pitch and seen Kylian play to understand how incredible what he does on the field is. When I talk privately with my teammates and friends from the national team, everyone is amazed by his sheer, insane speed. Dribbling past defenders at high speed is as easy as if there were no defenders on the pitch at all; he uses pure speed to get past opponents, which is truly breathtaking. Of course, his terrifying goal statistics are also a huge advantage. But again, each person with voting rights has their own criteria and subjective ideas. Just like the year I won the Champions League at Paris (2022 final), I ended up seventh, and I actually felt at the time that my ranking should have been higher.

Goalkeepers always complain: why does nobody ever vote for us goalkeepers?

Exactly. Many voting journalists will say: "Don't complain, we already voted for you in the Yashin Trophy." Once they vote for the Yashin Trophy, they completely forget about you for the Ballon d'Or. But the reality is interdependent; no matter how many saves I make in front of goal, if our attackers don't score, we won't win the final. I often joke about this: every time I see a replay of the Paris final on television or in promotional materials, the screen is filled with Vinicius's winning goal, and there's no footage of my saves against Salah! I jokingly tell them: "At least include a shot of my saves!" But that's just the media environment in football. Of course, I hope one day goalkeepers will break through this prejudice, but honestly, I think that's a slim hope, because there are increasingly exclusive awards for goalkeepers now, so voters feel even more justified in giving their Ballon d'Or votes to other positions.

Traduit par IA.

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