Thibaut Courtois believes Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Junior shares some similarities to his former Chelsea teammate Eden Hazard.

Vinicius, 18, was provided an assist and found the back of the net in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Alaves with the goalkeeper heaping praise on his display and potential.

The youngster completed a £38.7 million move from Flamengo last summer and has attracted admirers including the Belgian shot-stopper who has seen similar qualities like in his national team skipper, Hazard.

“Yes he does remind me of someone – Eden Hazard,” Courtois told reporters, as cited by Football Espana.

“He has so much self-confidence and belief at his age, and he plays boldly and without fear, so they are very similar.

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Courtois equally highlighted the importance of the victory over Alaves, citing they are a difficult opposition to break down.

“This victory (over Alaves) is important because they defend well and are a tough opponent, so we are happy.

“We are now in a good run of form but we are happy to be in a winning run, we have won every game since Real Sociedad and even then we deserved to win.

“Now there is an important run of games…the Copa, the game against Atletico and the Champions League.”

Madrid are still in the third position despite closing the gap to two points on Atletico Madrid and eight behind leaders Barcelona who they play next on Wednesday.

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