Thibaut Courtois was a late withdrawal from ‘El Clasico’, leaving Andriy Lunin to start in goal for Real Madrid against Barcelona.
A bout of flu ruled Courtois out of ‘El Clasico’, despite the Belgian doing everything within his power to play. Once his absence was confirmed, the spotlight fell squarely on Andriy Lunin.
Many Madridistas feared the worst without their trusted Belgian shot-stopper. Yet Real Madrid still emerged victorious with the Ukrainian between the sticks. In the end, his afternoon proved far less taxing than initially anticipated, defined primarily by two standout moments.
The first arrived courtesy of Raphinha’s 61st-minute equaliser. Lunin could perhaps have done better, as the Brazilian’s strike was not as well-placed as itinitially seemed. The goalkeeper got a glove to the ball, but could not prevent it trickling over the line.
However, he answered any lingering doubts just five minutes later. In the 66th minute, Lunin pulled off a superb, firm mid-height save to his right, parrying Gerard Martin’s point-blank effort following a corner.
Earlier, in the first half, the Ukrainian had already made his mark when he clawed Gordon’s drive from the left behind for a corner with a strong one-handed stop.
