Thibaut Courtois revelled in making the difference as his fine goalkeeping performance guided Real Madrid to a UEFA Champions League final victory over Liverpool on Saturday.
Courtois has led the way among goalkeepers in the competition this season, making the most saves (59) and boasting the highest save percentage of goalkeepers to make five stops or more (80.56).
The 30-year-old, speaking after the game, reflected on a productive outing on both a personal and team level.
“I said yesterday in my press conference when Madrid plays finals they win it,” he said.
“And I’m on the good side of history, I saw a lot of tweets coming my way that I will get humbled today and it was the other way round.
“I needed to win a final for my career, for all the hard work, to put respect on my name – I don’t think I have enough, especially in England.
“I saw a lot of criticism even after a great season that I was not good enough. I’m really happy and proud at the performance of the team, we stuck to it and when I needed to be there I was there for the team.
“We beat the best clubs in the world, together with us, you see the year City and Liverpool had, unbelievable seasons, they fought till the end in the Premier League.
“So many years, so much work, coming to the club of my life, yesterday I already said that Madrid wins and it is like that,” he said.
