Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois paid tribute to supporters of Liverpool after the Spanish side’s demolition of the Reds at Anfield.
The Spanish side secured a thrilling 5-2 victory on Merseyside on Tuesday night despite a slow start that saw them two goals behind within the opening 15 minutes - with Courtois culpable for the second goal with a rare error. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are now huge favourites to make the quarter-finals in three weeks’ time.
Despite his side racking up a dominant win, Courtois was still taken aback by the behaviour of the crowd at Anfield after the Liverpool faithful appeared to applaud Real Madrid icons Luka Modric and Karim Benzema off of the pitch.
Speaking after the full-time whistle, the former Chelsea star said: “It’s my first time playing Champions League football at Anfield when fans are in the stadium.
“The fact that there was applause from Liverpool supporters for Luka and Karim just proves that people here know how to appreciate guys who are great players.”
Courtois was somewhat indebted to his illustrious teammates after what was a mixed evening at Anfield. Following Darwin Nunez ’s brilliant opener, the Belgian stopper then had a howler by gifting Mohamed Salah a second.
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“That second Liverpool goal was slightly bad luck that I messed it up,” he said as he attempted to explain the error. “I had the ball under control and I wanted to pass it immediately but I saw that Mohamed Salah had stopped so I changed my mind and tried to move it on to my right foot but it bounced off my knee.”
In the end, the error was irrelevant with Vinicius Jr, Benzema, Eder Militao all getting on the scoresheet to complete the turnaround. The Brazilian winger was handed a huge helping hand by Liverpool stopper Alisson as he too dropped a clanger.
Courtois hailed his teammates for being able to stage their eye-catching turnaround. He said: “Vinicius Jr’s goal gave us wind beneath our wings and then Alisson Becker had a moment like mine and everyone knows that, on the counter-attack, we’re strong.
“We’re never beaten, we always react. Those two quick goals did help us to do that. We were calm, mentally, and when we are on the rise we play well.”
Real Madrid will certainly hope to rubber-stamp their progression next month with Liverpool set to travel to the Santiago Bernabeu. Before that though, they will also aim to get themselves back into contention for the LaLiga crown.
Ancelotti’s side currently sit second in the Spanish standings and eight points behind current leaders and fierce rivals Barcelona. Ahead of their second-leg with Liverpool, they face a Madrid derby against Atletico, whilst also clashing with the Catalan giants in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.
