Real Madrid veteran opines on Barcelona winger’s comments before El Clasico – ‘Heated up the game a bit’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois spoke on Wednesday to El Partidazo de COPE to discuss several current issues relating to the club.

Among them, he addressed what happened with Barcelona teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal in the hours leading up to the Clasico, which Real Madrid won 2-1, after the comments made during the Kings League event.

During his appearance on the Kings League promotional event, the Barça wonderkid made controversial comments, claiming Real Madrid ‘steal’.

It sparked a lot of controversy in Spain, and the Real Madrid dressing itself did not like what was said, leading to a tussle between Lamine and the likes of Dani Carvajal towards the end of the game.

Courtois’ thoughts

Now, Courtois opened up on what he thought of Lamine’s comments, claiming that the youngster is a top player and that his words added more fire to the Clasico.

“For me, Lamine is a great player and will be a player who will mark an era at Barça, I think, but well, in the end he spoke in a certain way, he heated up the game a bit and obviously the press jumped on him,” Courtois pointed out.

Lamine’s words heated things up during the Clasico. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Courtois acknowledged that, after defeats in recent Clasicos, the team needed “a bit of that fire again from an enemy”.

“When we’re feeling really intense and full of adrenaline, sometimes you say things that you later regret, ‘Well, that wasn’t necessary.’ But I think that’s what a Clasico is like,” Courtois added, referring to the incident with Lamine.

“Sometimes we need that atmosphere too, and I think that after last year when we lost four times, we also need that fire from an enemy again, and we have to go after them because even when they’ve won, they haven’t shown us any respect.” 

Although he admitted that Lamine may have heated the Clásico with those statements, Courtois stressed that he has zero issues with the Barcelona player and that these are “football things”.

“Carva or Huijsen are in the national team and I think there’s zero problem with Lamine. It’s something that stays on the field and there’s nothing going on off it,” the veteran said.

“If I see Lamine in a restaurant tomorrow, I’ll say hello. I don’t think there’s any problem between Lamine and me,” he concluded.