Courtois brings Real Madrid one step closer to the title

Thibaut Courtois was at his best to ensure that Real Madrid came away with all three points from Balaidos, as he made a series of crucial saves to stop Celta Vigo from scoring more than one goal.

The Belgian prevented Denis Suarez and Iago Aspas from finding the back of a net at a point in the match when Celta were piling the pressure on Real Madrid.

At the other end of the pitch, three penalties were awarded to Los Blancos, with Karim Benzema converting two of them.

Below are descriptions of how the Real Madrid players performed against Celta.

Real Madrid had their goalkeeper to thank, who made huge saves from Denis Suarez with the score at 0-0, whilst he stopped Iago Aspas from making it 2-0 to the hosts.

The Spaniard was a dangerous addition to attacking moves, including the pass he made for Karim Benzema's goal, although he was at fault defensively for Nolito's goal.

The Brazilian performed brilliantly at the heart of Los Blancos' defence, although he gave away the penalty which led to the opening goal. He was replaced due to a physical problem which is a concern.

Whilst not as firm as his defensive partner throughout the match, the Austrian did okay on Saturday. He made a defensive mistake for Thiago Galhardo's header which was disallowed.

The left side was protected by the returning Frenchman, as always, and while he contributed little in attack, he did win Los Blancos' third penalty.

The veteran was able to hold Los Merengues together during the more difficult moments of the match, and he provided a great pass to Vinicius in the action which led to Militao being fouled for a penalty. He did the dirty work with exceptional reliability.

The German was good in his ball distribution and was more or less vital to how Los Blancos constructed their play.

Having returned to his natural position after the experiment in the Clasico, the Croatian struggled to impact the match as he normally would before being replaced.

It was a very minimal display from the Spanish forward, who offered little in attack and couldn't offer Lucas Vazquez any help defensively.

It was a triumphant return for the talismanic forward, who scored two penalties, but he did miss one and failed to convert a header from a very good position in the first half. His scoring streak shows no sign of ending.

The Brazilian showed one moment of brilliance when he cut through the centre of the penalty area, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper.

Having been introduced in the 60th minute, the Brazilian was a spark for Los Merengues' attack and a decisive substitute, winning Real Madrid's second penalty.

He was introduced on the hour for Lucas Vazquez to add defensive order, with Real Madrid struggling in that area.

The Uruguayan came on with 15 minutes left and was able to help make a difference.

Was introduced with seven minutes left. He had a chance to put the game to bed, but his shot was blocked.

Was introduced with seven minutes left.

Stepping into his father's shoes wasn't easy for the Italian coach, and his team was never really in control of the match, despite a lot happening over the course of the 90 minutes. Courtois saved him on a number of occasions, although his changes did influence the outcome of the match.