Courtois stood strong as his team sent Liverpool out of the Champions League round of 16, to progress into the quarter-finals.
The Reds were trailing by 3 goals as they lost to the Spanish club at Anfield in their first leg. Even though Nunez and Salah had given the Reds the lead, they had eventually lost to a dominant Madrid side by 5 goals to 2, in the first leg.
The Reds’ supporters had expected another famous European night as they looked to make a famous comeback. However, Courtois and his team denied Liverpool of any chance to score in the Bernabéu.
‘Liverpool were aware we could punish them’: Courtois claimed
The Belgian shot-stopper claimed that Klopp’s side were ‘aware’ how easily they could be punished on the break. Moreover, he heaped praise on the Brazilian number 1 saying ‘Alisson made a series of brilliant saves’.
The Reds pushed for a goal while Alisson kept them in the game, eventually conceding a 78th-minute goal to Benzema. However, Klopp decided to take off Nunez who has 4 goals in this season’s CL. This was a controversial decision as Liverpool kept chasing the game from the start.
Speaking to Real Madrid, Courtois said:
“It was a good performance from us. They tried to create chances, Alisson made a series of brilliant saves and until our goal came, we knew they were still in the game. Once we got that goal, the game cooled off a bit and we knew we were going to qualify.
They were also aware following the first leg that we could punish them in behind if they went too crazy but they were looking for that goal early on just like Chelsea did last year, and that’s when the game could have changed. We showed real authority and maturity in how we went about the game. That was the key, not overthinking too much.”
I’m a football enthusiast and an avid writer and someone who lives by the Bill Shankly quote, on a day to day basis.
