Thibaut Courtois on Real Madrid dressing room – ‘In relationships, there are always better or worse moments’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was in brilliant form again on Wednesday night, denying Athletic Club’s best chance of the night on their way to a 3-0 win at San Mames with an excellent save. The Belgian goalkeeper has called on his teammates to keep the intensity high for every game.

Cutting the gap to Barcelona down to one point, Real Madrid snapped a run of three away games in La Liga without a win. Manager Xabi Alonso referred to it as their most complete performance of the season, with the only negatives coming in the form of injuries to Eduarddo Camavinga and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Courtois: ‘We said we needed to stop talking and start acting’

After the match, Courtois appeared in the mix zone to give his explanation for the improvement in their performance.

“In the first half in Girona, we didn’t give enough, and we have to understand that today, if you don’t play at 100%, you can easily be beaten. What we’ve said is that we need to stop talking and start acting. Matches are always different; Athletic plays with a high defensive line, which creates more space, and it’s more difficult for us against Girona or Elche when they defend,” he told Diario AS.

Image via Marca

“We can improve against teams that play deep. It was a good team performance. We have to keep working and believing. In the end, we’re a team, and everyone has their role. Everyone played a great game. Everyone wants to contribute to the team’s success.”

Courtois on relationship with Xabi Alonso

The pressure on Real Madrid has been augmented by widespread reporting that several of their biggest stars were unconvinced by Alonso’s methods. Courtois told El Chiringuito that there are always ups and downs in any relationship.

“I think we’re always close to him. Ultimately, we’re at Real Madrid, any small gesture is magnified by 10, and we’re people. Sometimes tensions are high, but I don’t think there was a problem between the team and the manager.”

“We started very well. In relationships, there are always better or worse moments, but I don’t think any player has felt that they were not OK with him, and we’re always OK. I don’t think there was ever a problem, on the outside, there’s always noise, but on the internally, we don’t notice it. There’s a lot of talk externally, when maybe on the inside it’s not like that, but we can’t come out and deny everything.”

As Courtois notes, the goings on at the Bernabeu are under a constant microscope, and while the noise has grown since El Clasico, Los Blancos will need to continue stacking results in order to keep it at a more manageable level. Real Madrid face Celta Vigo and Manchester City at home next, following a run of six straight away games.