Real Madrid defeated Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Thibaut Courtois, a great ex of this match, was surely one of the best players on the pitch, something very usual at Real Madrid. Despite the great performance of Real Madrid, Chelsea still had to show theirs, but as always Courtois was fully focused and saved Real Madrid.
After the match, Thibaut Courtois had the following to say about this special match vs his former team: “On Tuesday, I said that I liked the change in the away goals rule, but now I don’t like it so much because with three away goals we’d be in a great position. But seriously, it was a really important win. To go far in the Champions League you need a player like Benzema. He missed another (chance), Vini Jr. hit the woodwork, they also had chances, but 1-3 is an important result for us”.
He continued: “The problem if you make a bad pass as a goalkeeper is that there’s no one behind, they steal the ball and score. He shouldn’t be blamed, but a mistake by a goalkeeper is talked about a lot. We defended well, maybe at times we were too deep and they took advantage of that to create chances. We have to improve on that and move the defensive line a bit higher up. We have to make sure we play well in the return leg”.
On his return to London: “Obviously it’s a Champions League game, it’s not a friendly. I didn’t like how my departure from the club was explained, but I think I had really good moments at Stamford Bridge and I’ve got very fond memories of my time at Chelsea”.
Alaba, one of the protagonists of the night also said his word: “It was a good game. It was really important. Everything happens so quickly in football, but it's not decided yet. We were really focused from the start, that was all the better. We prepared well, but we have to continue, we can't stop here. We play in the league at the weekend and we have the second leg next week. We can't stop”.
On Benzema: “What he's doing this season is incredible. I can see how hard he works and he's having the season of his life, he's very focused and is hungry to score goals. He prepares very well for every game, particularly matches like tonight’s. I'm delighted to have him as a team-mate”.
The language: “I'm capable of speaking with the boys, but it's still early days to be speaking in Spanish on the TV. I'm getting there step by step”.
On the other hand it was Casemiro who analysed the game: “It was a very disciplined performance in which we understood the game, there's no question about that, but there's still 90 minutes to go. We know that we now head back to the Bernabéu and that's important, it's our home, but there's still 90 minutes to go and we've got to show the reigning Champions League winners the respect they deserve. Chelsea play some good stuff and are used to playing games like this, but, as I say, we've got to show them respect”.
Words about Benzema: “Firstly, we've got to talk about Karim’s magic. We simply have to continue to enjoy the player that he is, we appreciate his quality and the player that he is, but many people only see his goals and we see his quality, the type of person he is and it's extremely important for us that we continue to enjoy having him. It was a whole team effort, in terms of the effort, reading the game, knowing how to play and I think that we understood the game well”.
Excellent performance: “We're all aware that when you pull this shirt on, every game is important, but these are the games that we really enjoy and that Madrid are used to being involved in. I continue to give my all out there and play with my heart and soul, we really enjoyed ourselves out there”.
Message to the fans: “Many thanks because their support really helped us, but the message I have for them is that there's still 90 minutes to go. We have to show Chelsea respect. We know that we’ll have their support back at the Bernabéu”.
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