By Seyi Babalola
Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid’s goalkeeper, has criticised his teammates following their 2-1 loss to Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.
Los Blancos came into the game on Wednesday night trailing 3-0.
In the 13th minute, Courtois denied Bukayo Saka from the penalty spot, stopping him from extending the Gunners’ lead.
But Saka ultimately gave Arsenal the lead in the second half, deflecting Mikel Merino’s pass over Courtois.
Real’s Vinicius Jr equalised after a blunder by William Saliba, then Gabriel Martinelli raced clear to score in stoppage time.
Following the match, Courtois conceded that Arsenal deserved to win both matches.
However, the Belgian stopper was angry with the displays of the Real Madrid players.
Courtois said: “At half-time we felt that if we had scored the first goal the tie would have been open, in the end they found the first goal, we tied it quickly, you keep believing but we weren’t successful up front.
“I don’t think (David) Raya had to make a single great save.
“We lost against a superior Arsenal and we have to accept it.
“In the end, they’re a team that defends well, is well organised, presses well, and it’s difficult to find space. We put in a lot of crosses, but this year we don’t have Joselu, a natural striker up front.
“We have to analyse carefully what we can do better. We have a lot of season ahead of us, we have the League on the line, the Cup in ten days, and then the Club World Cup. We thank the fans. Thinking about a comeback was great, and I hope we can bring them some joy this season.”