On the eve of the new La Liga season, Real Madrid suffered a significant setback when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during training on Thursday.

According to his club, the 31-year-old Belgian international faces a lengthy layoff and will need surgery in the coming days.

"Thibaut Courtois has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee following tests," Madrid confirmed in a statement.

The club did not indicate how long Courtois will be out, although reports in Spain believe he will be missing for the majority, if not the entire season.


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Cadena Cope radio said Courtois was injured during a morning training session.

He will be replaced in the team by Ukraine's Andriy Lunin, with Madrid set to face Athletic Bilbao in their first game of the season on Saturday.

After the 2018 World Cup, Courtois joined Real Madrid from Chelsea, where he helped the team win two La Liga titles and the 2021-22 Champions League.

Following the departure of the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, Karim Benzema, to Saudi Arabia, coach Carlo Ancelotti suddenly finds himself without two of his most reliable performers in recent times.

Last year, Courtois was awarded the Yashin trophy, which is given to the world's finest goalkeeper.


His Madrid understudy, the 24-year-old Lunin, has made 17 appearances for the club since joining the same summer as Courtois.

Belgium will also be concerned about his fitness for Euro 2024.

Courtois has 102 caps for Belgium, although he declined to travel to Estonia for a Euro qualifier in June after being passed over for the stand-in captaincy.