Courtois SUBBED at half-time by Zidane after shocker as Real Madrid trail Club Brugge in Champions League – The Sun

THIBAUT COURTOIS suffered further Real Madrid misery tonight as he was hauled off at half-time.

The Belgian stopper, 27, was replaced with sub goalkeeper Alphonse Areola at the break after a disastrous opening 45 minutes in the Galacticos’ Champions League clash with Club Brugge.

Former Chelsea star Courtois was firstly left wrong-footed as Dennis fortunately mis-controlled the ball into the net – sending the ‘keeper sprawling the wrong way.

He was left hoping to be saved by VAR – but unfortunately the offside check went in favour of the Belgian visitors to leave the Bernabeu stunned.

However, worse was to follow for the struggling La Liga giants as Dennis made it two just six minutes before the break.

Madrid were jeered off at the interval as Zidane rang the changes to try and ensure a fightback from their 2-0 deficit.

And it was Courtois and full-back Nacho who were the casualties as they were replaced by Areola and Marcelo respectively.

Various reports emerged as to the reason why, with BT Sports claiming he had a shoulder injury while some Spanish reports stated he was ill.

Amazingly, after Dennis' second, that took the goalie's record to 81 conceded in just 58 games since his arrival from Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2018.

Courtois has been heavily criticised by Spanish media for his performances at Madrid.

But just last weekend the 76-capped Belgium international insisting he is not bothered by the constant bad press – despite recently losing his place to on-loan PSG ace Areola.

Courtois said: “It doesn't affect me.

“I analyse my matches with people who know football.

“I speak with my coaches and my team-mates.”

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