Real Madrid goal keeper Thibaut Courtois has revealed the secret behind his penalty save in their Spanish Supercopa penalty shoot out win over Atletico Madrid.
The arch rivals played out a scrappy 0-0 draw across 120 minutes of nervous action in Jeddah, with the Belian international making excellent saves from Alvaro Morata and Joao Felix in normal time.
The former Chelsea man was then vital in added time, after the dismissal of team mate Federico Valverde, with stops from Kieran Trippier and Angel Correa, before the drama of penalties.
And Courtois was once again the hero, as he saved Thomas Partey's spot kick, with Saul Niguez hitting a post, whilst Real Madrid successfully converted all four of their penalties.
"I looked at their previous penalties on the bench with the coaching staff," he told reporters from Marca in his post game interview.
"Saul surprised me a little with his penalty, but I knew where Thomas would put his."
"It was still difficult, as he hit it hard, but I am happy to make the save."
"It is another clean sheet for me, and we deserved to win with the confidence we showed in the penalty shoot out."
The Supercopa win is Courtois first domestic title with Real Madrid, since his 2018 move from Stamford Bridge, after winning the FIFA Club World Cup in 2018.
And the 27-year old added that Real Madrid would be quickly back on the La Liga trail on their return to Spain, with a difficult game against Sevilla to come next weekend.
