Thibaut CourtoisReal Madrid’s Belgian goalkeeper, regretted the 1-0 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool in a match in which he made up to eight saves, highlighted that they made too many fouls on the edge of the area and acknowledged that they have to “improve.”
“It’s a shame, I tried to support the team, but in the second half, above all, we made too many fouls near the area, where they are good and that’s how they scored the goal,” he analyzed on Movistar +.
“We were good with the ball, we defended well, but we were lacking in the final third, where it was difficult for us to get there and we lost a lot of balls. We have to improve. In the end we are in one of the most difficult courses in ‘Chmapions’ and we can lose, even if we don’t want to. “Now we will have to beat Olympiacos away and then continue with Manchester City at home.”he added.
In his analysis, Courtois pointed to several fouls awarded near his area that helped Liverpool exploit one of their great virtues from set pieces until they found the goal. In his opinion, what caused the defeat was not a foul.
“If we make fouls, some are unnecessary, other times we have to stop a dangerous attack. The one with the goal was not necessary and I think it was thrown away when we saw Jude’s leg. We needed the passes to be clean, to maintain possession in the opposite field. This is where we have to improve against good teams away from home“, he stated.
“It is a very difficult stadium where you can lose, you have to show your face, play better, but they are parties that are decided by details“, he stated.
Valverde makes self-criticism
Fede Valverde, captain of Real Madrid at Anfield, acknowledged that the defeat against Liverpool (1-0) on the fourth day of the Champions League “It’s a hard blow,” and he asked the team to react as they did after being beaten in the Metropolitano derby.
“We wanted to win, it’s always nice to do it at Anfield, it’s something unique but we had to lose and we thank the people who came in this weather.”. We have to continue improving, it is a hard blow because we came from a streak of good games. The important thing is to move forward like we did after losing to Atlético de Madrid,” he said.
“We came to try to win, We know that it is a very complicated field in which they press a lot but we had chances, so did they, and in the end we let three points go due to a set piece in which we must score better“, he added in Movistar +.
Fede Valverde especially pointed to the defensive errors committed in set-piece actions, after being warned by Xabi Alonso that it was one of Liverpool’s strong points.
“They had three or four set pieces that they headed and we knew that they are very strong on set pieces.. We had to be it, defend better, with more attitude and with more desire to not concede a goal,” he criticized.
“In the first half we dominated the game more, they had chances but we felt comfortable having the ball, moving it from one side to the other. We needed to step into more of the rival area, pending stopping their counterattacks because they are very fast. “We have to continue improving,” he sentenced.