Thibaut Courtois has again seriously injured his knee, reports Fabrizio Romano. The 31-year-old Real Madrid goalkeeper tore his cruciate ligament last summer during preparation and has therefore not played a minute this season. He had almost recovered from that injury, but now disaster has struck again. The goalkeeper must recover for two months.

Courtois seriously injured his knee during training in mid-August the Royal, which meant that the club had to move quickly to bring in a replacement. Four days later, Kepa Arrizabalaga was loaned from Chelsea.

The Spaniard started the season as first choice in Madrid, but lost his place to Andriy Lunin after an injury. The latter has played 23 matches so far this season, in contrast to Kepa's 18 matches.

With Courtois' new injury in mind, Lunin will remain the first choice under the bar at Real Madrid for the rest of the season, it seems. The 102-time Belgium international must recover over the next two months, which makes it questionable whether he can play for his club at all this season.

The Champions League final will take place on June 1. Courtois may make it to the European Championship. The final tournament in Germany starts on June 14 and runs until July 14. Whether the goalie is open to the European Championship remains to be seen, as he has a very difficult relationship with national coach Domenico Tedesco.

Difficult relationship with Tedesco

The bond between Courtois and Tedesco suffered a serious blow last June. In a match against Austria, Romelu Lukaku, rather than Courtois, was given the captaincy by Tedesco. The Real Madrid goalkeeper subsequently left the selection, after which Tedesco claimed that this was due to the captaincy situation. Courtois then reacted angrily and disappointed, claiming he was struggling with a knee injury.

Last week, Courtois responded to X with three 'liar emojis' on a video of a press conference by national coach Tedesco. In it he made statements about his relationship with Courtois. “His position is clear,” said Tedesco. “He communicated this to us clearly and on time, which is very nice of him. No new information has come our way since then.”

“I have tried everything, absolutely everything,” was Tedesco's statement about his goalkeeper's situation. “The latest information I have is that he did not feel comfortable playing the European Championship.” Courtois commented under the video with the three liar emojis, suggesting he has changed his mind.

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