Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has called out his teammates for what he believed was a sub-par delivery against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, MySportDab reports.
Real Madrid went into the two-legged tie as overwhelming favourites but were roasted by Arsenal – the underdogs.
Declan Rice’s heroics, including Bukayo Saka, Mikel Merino, and Gabriel Martinelli’s goals secured a resounding 5-1 aggregate victory over the defending champions.
Notably, Arsenal’s masterclass against Madrid came as a shock to many with Mikel Arteta bagging all the credits for an impressive outing against the La Liga and European giants.
However, according to Thibaut Courtois, the match may have gone their (Real Madrid’s) way had they got their tactics right.
The Belgian goalie appeared to blame his teammates for the defeat, insisting that a lack of coordinated team effort led to the defeat.
Breaking it down, Courtois said his side depended only on crosses in the opposition’s final third and penalty instead of a collective and worked-out team effort to break open Arsenal’s defense.
He further stressed that depending on crosses wasn’t necessary since the team didn’t have a Joselu to poke home the crosses.
“We crossed too much… we should create more collective plays”.
“We tried to cross a lot but then with all those crosses, Arsenal have tall players and we don’t have a Joselu…,” he said as Fabrizio Romano quotes.
Courtois saved a penalty early in the first half of the game to deny Bukayo Saka but conceded twice in the second half from Saka’s and Martinelli’s goals.
Following the loss, Real Madrid now has only the Copa Del Rey and La Liga title to wrestle for this season, with the chances of winning the latter getting slimmer as the season wear on.
They are trailing league leaders by Barcelona four points and will face this arch-domestic rivals in El-Clasico Copa Del Rey final.
