In football, there are betrayals that pierce the cacophony of trophy ceremonies and transfer windows to touch something truly intimate. One of those is the tale of Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, and Caroline Lijnen, a private breakup that somehow made its way into Belgian football legend and reappears every few years whenever the two men play together or attend a press conference.
It began quietly, as these things usually do. There were rumors that something had happened between Courtois and De Bruyne’s then-girlfriend, Caroline Lijnen, in 2012 and 2013, when both Courtois and De Bruyne were at Chelsea, two young Belgians navigating London football together. Nobody had the whole picture at the time. They eventually did.
Lijnen has been open about her perspective. According to her story, she was the first to learn that De Bruyne had cheated on her. A relationship between her and Courtois emerged while she was in Madrid, a trip that De Bruyne himself allegedly encouraged. She presented it bluntly, saying that Courtois gave her emotional warmth that she hadn’t experienced in three years with De Bruyne. It is a convoluted tale with no obvious antagonist, which may be precisely why it has persisted for so long.
De Bruyne has been just as open. He said he felt as though his entire world had fallen apart when he learned. It was the people involved, not the relationship itself, that made it more acute. He spent nearly every day in the national camp with Courtois, a teammate and fellow Belgian. De Bruyne reportedly declined the coach’s offer to remove Courtois from the team. The team had to come first, he said. He continued to act professionally. However, he admitted in private that he never considered Courtois a friend again after that. Maintaining the separation of personal and professional life reveals a lot about De Bruyne’s competitive personality.
The part that rarely receives attention is what transpired next. The two men advanced. After leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid in 2018, Courtois had one of the most illustrious goalkeeping careers in the team’s history, winning three La Liga titles, two Champions League trophies, and a Copa del Rey. After joining Manchester City, De Bruyne spent more than ten years as the Premier League’s top midfield player, according to most evaluations. Six league titles, including three in 2022–2023. Two professions that flourished concurrently, by all accounts.
In the end, De Bruyne wed Michvé Lacroix in 2017, and the two have three kids. Israeli model Mishel Gerzig, whom Courtois met on Instagram in 2021 after leaving a comment on a picture of her dog, turned out to be his soulmate. They were married in June 2023 after becoming engaged in 2022 on the Amalfi Coast. Ellie, their daughter, was born in March 2024. Both men appeared to have landed on level ground.
However, questions about the past continue to arise. In a podcast earlier this year, Courtois praised De Bruyne’s work ethic, his significance to City’s structure, and how the team performs better when De Bruyne performs well. It was abundant. It’s difficult to tell from the outside whether it was just two professionals acting professionally or if it was also an olive branch.
The fact that the two key players of Belgium’s golden generation—a generation that never quite produced the World Cup it promised—are also connected by this off-field chapter is almost poetic. Football careers are lengthy. Once a friendship is broken in a particular way, it often remains broken even after it appears to be repaired. De Bruyne stated as much. He continued to act professionally. He instructed the coach to keep Courtois on the team. The group arrived first. However, there are some things from which you never fully recover, and he seemed to be aware of this even as he spoke.
