Thibaut Courtois has won the respect and Champions League title he craved

“I don’t think I get enough respect, especially in England,” said Thibaut Courtois after Real Madrid’s victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday night. To say Courtois enjoyed a world class performance in Paris would be an understatement. The Belgian was at his imperious best, making nine saves in the game, including outstanding stops to deny Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah.

Vinícius Júnior scored the only goal of the game, but Courtois was the match winner. Courtois lost his previous Champions League final – against Real Madrid in 2014, when he was playing for Atlético – so he was determined to become a European champion on Saturday.

That was not his only motivation. “Today I needed to win a final for my career, for all the hard work to put respect on my name,” said Courtois. “There was a magazine, in March, that didn’t put me in the top 10 goalkeepers in the world. I don’t think they have to put me as No 1, but not to be put in the top 10 – it’s strange. I guess it is to do with how I left Chelsea, but I won the Premier League twice in England. I don’t think I ever really get recognised for it, especially after my first year with Madrid. A lot of people laughed at me but here I am as a winner so it is a nice comeback.”

Exaggerating the lack of respect he is given seems to be working well for Courtois as a motivational tool but he has a point about being underrated. When France Football – the organisers of the Ballon d’Or – handed out the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper of the year in November, Courtois was only eighth in the voting. Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martínez received more than three times as many votes.

If there were any doubts about whether Courtois deserves to be mentioned among