Galatasaray 0-1 Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois a saviour at last, but issues remain for Zinedine Zidane

Thibaut Courtois had needed a night like this one. Ridiculed by the media, booed by his own fans and the victim of some mischievous reports of anxiety, the Belgian finally delivered as a Real Madrid player on Tuesday evening.

The 27-year-old made two superb saves in the opening 13 minutes to deny Florin Andone in the 1-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray and both were the type of interventions which have been lacking since his arrival in the summer of last year.

These were heroic, match-winning stops and for coach Zinedine Zidane, the timing could not have been better.

Five minutes after Courtois had thwarted Andone for a second time, Toni Kroos gave Real the lead with a deflected shot after a pass from Eden Hazard.

It turned out to be the winner, but the victory would not have been possible without Madrid's much-maligned goalkeeper.

"The two chances he stopped were really good," Zidane said afterwards. "Courtois saved us. We are happy for Thibaut."

Courtois also spoke after the game and said: "We were awake from the start. They had two good chances, but I was able to save them. I know the goalkeeper I am and I never doubted myself."

Plenty of others did, though, and Zidane admitted in a television interview: "I'm happy for him because he needed it."

So too did his coach. Zidane faced a series of questions about his future ahead of the game in Istanbul and anything but a win would have compromised Los Blancos' progress in this competition.

Fortunately for the Frenchman, that win was secured and Real are now in second place in Group A, with qualification for the knockout stages very much in their own hands after three games.

But Madrid made hard work of it against one of the weakest teams in the competition and a side sitting in sixth place in Turkey's Super Lig.

Courtois had to make another smart save to keep out a Younes Belhanda effort late in the first half and Steven N'Zonzi came close to an equaliser with a late header.

Marcelo was a weakness on the left side once again as Galatasaray sought to exploit the Brazilian's flank. Fatih Terim's team also found spaces between Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane to create chances which could have changed the bearing of the game.

Overall, Madrid dominated and Los Blancos' 26 attempts are an indication of their control of the match, but also of their inability to take their opportunities. Zidane's side scored only once and have netted just three times in as many matches in the Champions League this season.

That will need to improve if Real are to achieve anything in this competition and Zidane will hope the goals start to flow for Eden Hazard, who was guilty of one bad miss in the second half as he rounded goalkeeper Fernando Muslera but blasted his effort against the crossbar when he should have scored.

It is a problem which has blighted Los Blancos ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus last year and even with players like Luka Modric and Gareth Bale out, Madrid should have taken more of their chances on Tuesday.

"We had a lot of opportunities and I would like us to have scored a second and a third," Zidane admitted. "But we were concentrated from the first minute until the last."

Other positives, along with Courtois' performance, were the impressive running of Fede Valverde in midfield and Rodrygo's first start for the club.

On a potentially difficult evening at a hostile stadium, Madrid showed the togetherness Ramos had spoken of on Monday and for now at least, the calm is restored for Zidane.

Many of the doubts, however, remain.

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