Full transcript
0:00What do you know about Tibbo
0:03Corttois? He's arguably the best
0:06goalkeeper of his generation, possibly
0:09Real Madrid's greatest ever goalie, and
0:12certainly among the finest shots
0:14stoppers football has ever seen. But
0:17there was one particular night in the
0:212022 UFA Champions League final when
0:24this man practically transformed into an
0:26octopus on the pitch. He didn't just
0:29save shots, he erased them. Arms
0:33everywhere. Reflexes from another
0:36planet. That night, he wasn't just a
0:38goalkeeper. He was a monster in
0:44gloves. Now, imagine being Liverpool
0:47that season. They were chasing history.
0:50A clean sweep of all four major
0:52trophies. They'd already bagged the EFL
0:55Cup and FA Cup, both in tight penalty
0:58shootouts. But unfortunately, just days
1:00before the Champions League final, they
1:03missed out on the Premier League trophy
1:05by just one point in a dramatic final
1:08day of the league season against
1:11Manchester City. Still, there was one
1:14final mountain to climb, the Champions
1:16League, the biggest one. They arrived in
1:18Paris hungry, motivated, and desperate
1:22to finish the season with a bang. But
1:25standing in their way was Real Madrid, a
1:27team that had already pulled off one of
1:29the most unbelievable Champions League
1:31runs in recent memory. Madrid had been
1:34written off multiple times that season.
1:37They needed miracle comebacks against
1:39PSG, Chelsea, and Manchester City just
1:42to reach the final. And in every round
1:45it was Corttois who kept them alive when
1:48things looked impossible. Now here they
1:50were once again battered, doubted, but
1:54still standing. And Corttois, he was
1:57about to deliver the performance of a
1:59lifetime. And for the Reds, the
2:02motivation ran even deeper. They were
2:04still haunted by their loss to the same
2:06opponents on the same stage in the same
2:09competition. Four years prior they had
2:12lost the Champions League final to Real
2:14Madrid in 2018.
2:18Oh, he's gone for it. It's over and Real
2:21Madrid have won their third consecutive
2:24UEFA Champions League. What a night. No
2:28thanks to calamitous errors from Loris
2:30Karas. This time though, they came for
2:33revenge and you could tell from the very
2:35moment the first whistle went that they
2:38wanted to make the Spaniards feel what
2:40they felt in
2:412018. But it just wasn't to be for the
2:44Liverpoolians. That night, Corttois
2:47broke records and broke hearts. He made
2:50nine saves in that game, the first of
2:53which came in the 16th minute. Trent
2:56Alexander Arnold received a pass from
2:58Henderson, found some space in the box,
3:00and delivered a deadly cross into Salah,
3:02who tried to sneak the ball into the
3:04back of the net with a cheeky flick. The
3:06ball was on target, but Cottois was
3:09there. Real Madrid failed to properly
3:12clear their lines, so Liverpool came
3:14calling again just seconds after that
3:16attempt. Luis Diaz's shot was blocked by
3:20Danny Carvajal while Thiago Alcantra's
3:22curler was easily handled by Corttois.
3:25Liverpool continued to mount immense
3:27pressure on Real Madrid and in the 17th
3:31minute they came knocking again. Sardi
3:35Mané who was inside the box received a
3:38pass from Andy Robertson and quickly set
3:41up Salah for a one-time shot. It was
3:44well struck, but Corttois made the stop
3:46look easy. You see, MoSalah was really
3:49in the mood that night. He had been
3:51taken off in the first half of the 2018
3:53final in tears after he was injured by
3:56Sergio Ramos. So, he in particular took
3:59this game personally. After Liverpool
4:02qualified for the 2022 final, he
4:04famously treated, "We have a score to
4:06settle." Obviously referring to the game
4:08from 2018.
4:10The Egyptian was extra motivated going
4:13into that game. And to be fair to him,
4:15he actually did back up his talk on the
4:17pitch. With the way he played, that
4:19could have been an all-time performance
4:21if not for a certain octopus on the
4:23other team. In the opening 20 minutes,
4:26Salah had already tried twice, but had
4:29been stopped both times by his fellow
4:31former Chelsea man in the opposing goal,
4:34but he didn't stop knocking. In the 21st
4:37minute, however, it was Sardio Mané who
4:39decided to test Corttois from the other
4:41side of the pitch. This was more
4:43threatening than anything we had seen
4:45all game. Everyone thought that Manet's
4:48shot would have caught the keeper out.
4:50And to be fair, it would have beaten any
4:52other goalkeeper, just not Corttois. Not
4:56that night. The Belgian responded
4:59brilliantly, pushed the ball to the
5:01woodwork, and very quickly cleaned up
5:03before Salah could get to the loose
5:04ball. At this point, the Liverpool
5:07players and fans were already getting
5:08really frustrated. How exactly are they
5:11supposed to win this football match if
5:13the man in the opposing goal seems to
5:15have eight limbs and was everywhere all
5:17at once? But that didn't stop them from
5:20keeping on going. Having tried shots
5:23with his feet which couldn't beat the
5:25goalie in the 34th minute, Salah decided
5:28to try with his head for a change,
5:30connecting with a cross from Trent
5:32Alexander Arnold, but his header was a
5:35tame one and was straight at Corttois.
5:37Then, just minutes before the end of the
5:39first half, Real Madrid thought they had
5:41pulled off the ultimate heist. Player of
5:44the tournament, Karen Benzema, put the
5:46ball in the back of the net after a few
5:48seconds of utter confusion in the
5:50Liverpool box. But Real Madrid's
5:52celebrations were very quickly cut short
5:54by the linesman's flag. The V check took
5:57quite some time, 3 minutes 20 seconds to
6:00be exact, particularly because the
6:02referees were trying to figure out if
6:04the last touch from Fabinho was
6:06intentional or not. Anyway, after the
6:09excruciatingly long check, the onfield
6:12decision was upheld. So, we went into
6:14halftime with the game still goalless.
6:18Liverpool fans were hoping that the
6:19break would somehow affect Corttois's
6:21form, but it did nothing of the sort.
6:23Instead, it seemed to have affected
6:25Liverpool's
6:26concentration. In the 59th minute,
6:29against the run of play, Real Madrid
6:31went and grabbed the lead. Federrico
6:34Valverde sent a surging cross into the
6:37box and Vinnie who had been left
6:39unmarked by Trent Alexander Arnold snuck
6:42in from behind and slotted the ball into
6:45the back of the net. It was really
6:47heartbreaking for Liverpool, but the
6:49only good thing was that the goal came
6:51early. With how they had been playing
6:53from the first half, the Reds certainly
6:55still backed themselves to go and get a
6:57goal back. So, they picked themselves up
6:59and got back to attacking. A few minutes
7:02later, Trent sent a dangerous cross into
7:04the Real Madrid box, but Corttois got to
7:07it and punched out before any player in
7:09red could get to it. Then in the 64th
7:12minute, an extra motivated MoSalah
7:14received a pass from Captain Henderson
7:16on the right wing, cut in and released a
7:20curling shot from outside the box. Yes,
7:23you guessed it. Corttois was right there
7:25to make the save once again. In
7:28searching for an equalizer, Liverpool
7:30boss Jurgen Klopp decided to make big
7:33changes. He took off Lewis Diaz in the
7:3665th minute and replaced him with Diego
7:39Joltter. Then in the 77th minute, he
7:42took off Jordan Henderson and Thiago
7:44Alcantara, replacing them with Nabi
7:46Kater and Roberto Firmino. So
7:49essentially, Liverpool ended the game
7:51with four out andout attackers on the
7:54pitch.
7:55Jotar had an instant impact after coming
7:58off the bench. He rose highest to
8:00connect with a cross into the box and
8:02managed to find Mo Salah at the other
8:04side of the goal. The Egyptian was just
8:06inches away from the goal when he struck
8:08the ball. But guess who was there? The
8:11octopus of a man clad in all green. He
8:15was a nightmare for Salah that night,
8:17but he wasn't even done haunting the
8:19Egyptian just yet. A few minutes later,
8:22there was a quick interchange of passes
8:24between Salah and Firin, which ended
8:26with Salah making an attempt from just
8:29outside the penalty area. The ball took
8:31a deflection off Jotar, who was running
8:33into the box, and it caused the shot to
8:35change direction a little, but even that
8:37could not be cuis. He still managed to
8:40get a hand to it and put the ball out
8:41for a corner. Incredible. We were now in
8:45the final moments of the match, but
8:46Liverpool still refused to give up.
8:48Salah definitely didn't. In the 82nd
8:51minute of the game, the winger received
8:53a ball over the top from Fabinho. He
8:56brought the ball down brilliantly, ran
8:59into the box, and took a shot with his
9:01right foot, but Corttois threw an arm
9:03out and sent the ball out for a corner.
9:06Salah hit the floor, and it felt like a
9:08subtle sign of agony and exhaustion. On
9:11a different day, he could easily have
9:13had a Champions League final hat-tick,
9:15but Corttois didn't even let him get one
9:18that night. The Belgian was simply
9:20impenetrable. That night, Liverpool had
9:2324 attempts, 20 more than Real Madrid
9:26managed. The Reds had nine shots on
9:29target, six of which came from Salah,
9:31but every single one of those shots was
9:33saved by Corttois. Meanwhile, Real
9:36Madrid scored from their only shot on
9:39target. seemed pretty unfair if we're
9:41being totally honest. Some say it was
9:44bad luck for Liverpool, but I say it was
9:47the luck. That game could have gone on
9:49for 90 more minutes and Liverpool still
9:52would not have gone past Corttois. He
9:54was really in the mood that night. With
9:57nine saves and three high claims,
10:00Corttois was unsurprisingly named player
10:02of the match in the final. He also went
10:05into the record books as the goalkeeper
10:07with the most saves in a Champions
10:09League final as well as in a single game
10:11in Real Madrid history. Now, while I say
10:14it felt like Corttois had eight limbs
10:16that day, Jurgen Klopp felt like it was
10:18even more. Reflecting on his time at the
10:21club after he decided to step aside in
10:232024, Klopp said his players did well in
10:26the 2022 final. He said they were
10:29practically shooting every 3 minutes,
10:31but the Real Madrid goalkeeper had 12
10:34hands. As far as he was concerned,
10:36Corttois was the difference in that
10:38game. He said that the Madrid players
10:40were in wrong positions like 23 times
10:44and his team just didn't punish them.
10:46Not because of their brilliant
10:47defending, but because of, in his exact
10:49words, that Corttois. That was
10:52how good, dominant, and heartbreaking
10:55that performance was. Surely it goes
10:58down as the greatest goalkeeping
11:00performance in the history of Champions
11:03League finals and perhaps in any major
11:06final in football history. Never mind an
11:09octopus. Is there any creature with 12
11:11arms? Help me in the comments, guys.
11:13That's definitely what Tibo Corttois was
11:16against Liverpool that night. But at
11:17least it was only hopes and dreams
11:20Corttois killed with his performance in
11:22that final. But years before that, in
11:24another major final, Ronaldo very nearly
11:28died on the pitch. Literally. If you
11:31want to know what happened that led to
11:33the legend coming face to face with
11:35death on the pitch, go check out this
11:38video and I'll tell you the entire
11:40story.