Thibaut Courtois rejects claims of rift with Keylor Navas

Bengaluru, September 3: Thibaut Courtois took Keylor Navas' place in goal on Saturday (September 1), but the Belgian goalkeeper has rejected claims of a rift between the two shot-stoppers.

Courtois earned his much-coveted debut for Real Madrid over the weekend in a 4-1 win against Leganes and his debut match curse over the years struck him again as he couldn't keep a clean sheet. However, this was not a mistake for which he was solely blamed as he conceded from a penalty kick.

The Belgian Courtois explained after the match that his relationship with the Costa Rican Navas is a positive one.

"He wished me luck; we get on well. Sometimes people look for controversy, but we're both competing, and that's for the good of the team; Kiko Casilla is also competing. There are three keepers", Courtois said after the match.

"Competition makes you give more of yourself.

"There is competition for every spot at the best club in the world."

Reports surfaced that Courtois would immediately replace Navas between the posts for Madrid, but instead Courtois was named on the bench for his first two games.

Lopetegui had revealed before the season began that he was open to the idea of frequent rotation between Navas and Courtois.

Asked about Courtois, Lopetegui said: "I didn't give any roadmap, but we knew he was going to play this match and I won't say any more.

"We have three great goalkeepers and we'll try to find the best solutions. We decided that Courtois would play this time, but we have excellent options."

"Keylor Navas is our player and had a great game against Girona, before being named the best goalkeeper by UEFA.

"We'll see how it goes, with the decision to be made on the pitch. We do, though, have an idea of what we'll do."

The rotation will be particularly seen in matches against Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, in which matches the matter of trust comes into play for Lopetegui.