Iker Casillas backs Keylor Navas as Real Madrid No 1 ahead of Super Cup showdown with David de Gea

  • Real Madrid face Manchester United in Tuesday night's Super Cup final
  • Keylor Navas replaced Iker Casillas as No 1 at the Bernabeu in 2015
  • Casillas has backed the Costa Rican to stay as first choice under Zinedine Zidane

When Iker Casillas watches Tuesday night's UEFA Super Cup final he will have one eye on the two benches where his former team-mate Zinedine Zidane takes on his former manager Jose Mourinho, and the other eye, inevitably, on the two goalkeepers.

There were two schools of thought as to how to replace him when he finally left Madrid in 2015 – one said persist with Keylor Navas, the other demanded the club sign David de Gea.


As Tuesday's final pits the two against each other, Casillas seems sure they made the right call sticking with the Costa Rican.

Keylor Navas trains ahead of Real Madrid's Super Cup clash with Manchester United

Keylor Navas trains ahead of Real Madrid's Super Cup clash with Manchester United

Navas will come face-to-face with David de Gea in Skopje on Tuesday night

Navas will come face-to-face with David de Gea in Skopje on Tuesday night

'The Real Madrid goal is perfectly defended by Keylor,' he says praising his successor 

'He is a magnificent goalkeeper and this year he has proved that he has the qualities to be first-choice at Madrid.'

De Gea's botched move to the Bernabeu in 2015 was resurrected again this summer but Navas' form had senior players and the coach Zidane insisting that he remain the club's No 1.

'He has great reflexes and his physical conditioning is so good,' says Casillas. 'That allows him to be at his best for 90 minutes. 

'If you are a Madrid keeper you maybe have to be even more switched on than in other teams because the opposition are going to have fewer chances and you have to be focused for counter-attacks.'

Navas has established himself as first choice under Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabeu

Navas has established himself as first choice under Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabeu

He praises Navas' rival in Skopie too, saying: 'De Gea is a great keeper and without doubt he will get even better as the years go by.'

But you get the feeling he is pleased Navas survived.

At 30 some believed the Costa Rican was past it this summer but Casillas, still playing Champions League football with Porto at 36, says: 'The ideal age for a player has gone up. 

'Before if you were 31 or 32 then you would be thinking about retiring but not now and in terms of goalkeepers we have a very clear example in Buffon who is about to reach 40 and he's still playing Champions League finals.'

At 36 Casillas is young enough to look up to Buffon, and old enough to remember a time when Manchester United were the favourites in matches against Real Madrid.

The Costa Rican replaced Iker Casillas in between the sticks when the Spaniard left in 2015

The Costa Rican replaced Iker Casillas in between the sticks when the Spaniard left in 2015

'We played some great games against them,' he says recalling Champions League quarter-finals in 2000 and 2003.

'In 2000 we had been better than them in a 0-0 at the Bernabeu but [Mark] Bosnich made a lot of saves. Everyone thought we were going out because they were the clear favourites and they had home advantage in the second leg but we won 3-2.

'In 2003 Sir Alex Ferguson did us a favour when he left David Beckham out. He didn't play in the first game at our place because he had problems with Ferguson. 

'And in the second game he didn't start. For us it was a relief because we knew what damage he could do. I never thought at that time that he could end up coming to Madrid.'

Beckham scored twice as a substitute in a 4-3 second-leg win for United but they lost the quarter-final 5-6 on aggregate and he joined Real Madrid that summer.

'People always talk about his image and that was always there,' says Casillas, 'but on the pitch for us he did so much for the team. And as a person he was a phenomenon too. A real crack.'

De Gea was close to joining the European champions and there was interest again this summer

De Gea was close to joining the European champions and there was interest again this summer

Casillas' Real Madrid career was cut short, in part, by his acrimonious relationship with Mourinho who goes in search of his first win in a competitive game against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

He doesn't want to answer questions about the United manager. There seems no desire to bury the hatchet but he is full of praise for Zidane.

Under Mourinho from 2010 to 2013 Real Madrid lost three Champions League semi-finals. 

Since then they have won the competition three times and Zidane has won two of those, last year becoming the first coach to retain the trophy. Is Casillas shocked at just how successful he has been?

'Absolutely not,' he says. 'He's a tremendous coach and these two magnificent seasons prove that. 

Casillas believes Navas has cemented his place as the first choice at Real Madrid

Casillas believes Navas has cemented his place as the first choice at Real Madrid

'There is a balance to the team now that allows them to play various systems and change tactics within matches and that makes them extremely difficult to beat. I enjoy watching them.'

'Zidane is a role model too in terms of how you make that transition from player to manager.' It doesn't seem an example he's set to follow just yet though.

'I'm just concentrating on playing,' he says. 

And he feels in good enough shape to say: 'I would love to play in England one day,' before adding 'but right now I'm concentrating on winning things with Porto'.

So maybe the next move then? There was talk of Liverpool earlier in the summer and he admits: 'Anfield has always been a really special stadium that breathes proper football.'

If he plays there this season it will be against them as he goes on adding to his record-breaking 168 appearances in the Champions League.

No one has played more games – right back to a time when United were kings of Europe and it was Real Madrid trying to spend their way back into contention.

Navas pictured in action during training as reserve goalkeeper Kiko Casilla watches on

Navas pictured in action during training as reserve goalkeeper Kiko Casilla watches on