Fabregas changes his mind on who should win Ballon d’Or after UCL final

Real Madrid ran out 1-0 winners over Liverpool at the Stade de France in Paris with Vinicius Jr scoring the only goal of the game, but Thibaut Courtois was the hero

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Liverpool v Real Madrid: Champions League final pictures

Cesc Fabregas has changed his mind on who should win the Ballon d’Or after Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the Champions League final.

Ahead of the match in Paris, the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder tweeted: “Not a big fan of individual trophies like that but surely the Ballon d’Or could/should be decided tonight? Mane? Salah? Benzema?”

Real Madrid ran out 1-0 winners over Liverpool at the Stade de France, with Vinicius Jr scoring the only goal of the game. But it was Los Blancos shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois who was the club’s hero on the night with some incredibly important saves.

Reacting to the Belgian’s performance, Fabregas revised his original post, tweeting: “I would add and most probably give it to Courtois. Insane season.”

Speaking to the media after Real’s victory, Courtois said: “I said at the press conference yesterday that when Madrid play in finals, they win.

“I saw a lot of tweets saying I would get humbled. It was the other way round. Today I needed to win a final – for my career, for all the hard work, to put respect on my name because I don’t think I have enough respect, especially in England. I saw a lot of criticism that I was not good enough or whatever.”

On winning the trophy, he added: “I’m just really happy and proud of the performance of the team, and when I needed to be there I was there for the team. We have beaten the best clubs in the world, together with us. Liverpool were very strong today. I think I played a great game and that was the difference.”

Alan Shearer, meanwhile, said of the keeper: “Thibaut Courtois has been fantastic. Not only in the number of saves he has made but he has dominated his box and giving his defenders the chance to relax.”