MY ACCOUNT
Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas believes the club’s run to Saturday’s Champions League final will mean nothing if they eventually lose to Liverpool.
With 725 matches played, Casillas trails only Raul Gonzalez for appearances made for Los Blancos, winning the Champions League three times with the club, including the famous La Decima in 2014.
Madrid have made a dramatic run to Saturday’s fun, coming from behind on aggregate in all three knockout ties to eliminate Paris Saint-German, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Writing for the Player’s Tribune, Casillas insisted it will matter little if Liverpool lift the trophy on Saturday instead.
“The comebacks are very good but now we have to get it. We need the icing on the cake,” Casillas wrote for the Players Tribune. “If you don’t get that icing, the cake won’t be complete, right?
“If the cup does not reach the showcases, nobody is going to remember what happened with PSG, with Chelsea and with Manchester City. To be exciting, it has to be until the end, with the prize.
“One step away from glory for the 14th time, people think that winning the Champions League is easy and it is not. If just reaching a Champions League semi-final is something incredible, when you get one, two or three cups you have to be proud.”
The 41-year-old singled out Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who has been a pivotal figure in both their LaLiga title and run to Saturday’s final, with 21 clean sheets in 50 games across all competitions.
While insisting Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the world, that Casillas’ athletic and versatile style in goal was long regarded as an inspiration is something he also takes pride in.
“A separate paragraph is for Courtois, and I think no one can argue that today he is the best goalkeeper in the world,” he said. “It’s the same thing I think of Karim [Benzema]. To rise even higher, you have to get that award. And he deserves it like nobody else, since he has been essential for Madrid to reach the final in Paris.
“I am proud that, as I did with [Luis] Arconada, he has grown up inspired by my stops, by my videos. There will be another kid out there who will want to be like Courtois tomorrow. But, in short, I am flattered to have been a part of his life.”
