Los Blancos continued their perfect start to the La Liga campaign with Gareth Bale’s opener, a Karim Benzema brace and a Sergio Ramos penalty enough to earn their third straight league win despite a Guido Carrillo spot-kick for the visitors.
Courtois – signed from Chelsea in a £35million window last month – was finally handed his first start and although he could not keep a clean sheet, enjoyed a relatively comfortable night’s work at the Bernabeu.
The Belgian was expected to come in and immediately replace Keylor Navas as No 1 after pushing so hard for a Stamford Bridge exit, even refusing to report for several days of pre-season training.
The belief Courtois would be the club’s new first-choice option between the sticks was despite his Costa Rican competitor having been in goal for the last three seasons, helping Real to three straight Champions League triumphs and also a La Liga success.
But instead Courtois was named on the bench for his first two games, sitting out of two season-opening league matches for the first time since he was 17 years old while at Genk in 2009.
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And manager Lopetegui has hinted that from here on out, he will employ a rotation policy by which both keepers share starting duties throughout the course of the campaign.
Asked about Courtois after their 4-1 win, Lopetegui said: “I didn’t give any roadmap, but we knew he was going to play this match and I won’t say any more.
“We have three great goalkeepers and we’ll try to find the best solutions. We decided that Courtois would play this time, but we have excellent options.
“Keylor Navas is our player and had a great game against Girona, before being named the best goalkeeper by UEFA.
“We’ll see how it goes, with the decision to be made on the pitch. We do, though, have an idea of what we’ll do.”
Courtois also looked to play down suggestions of a rivalry between himself and Navas.
He declared after his first Madrid appearance: ”Keylor Navas and I get on really well.
“Sometimes I see that the press want to look for controversy, but we’re both competing really well and always training to the maximum.
“Competition makes you give more of yourself.
“There is competition for every spot at the best club in the world.”
The two-week international break means Lopetegui will have plenty of time before deciding who to start for Real’s next game, a trip to Athletic Bilbao, on September 15.