Real Madrid star cites Champions League defeat against Milan as important lesson

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has admitted that they learned a lot from the defeat last season against AC Milan.

Last night, Real Madrid won their Champions League opener 2-1 against Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille at the Santiago Bernabeu. The victory came thanks to two penalties from Kylian Mbappé, and it was despite the fact they went behind and went down to ten-men midway through the second half.

Courtois gave his thoughts on the game during an interview with Movistar after the final whistle, and he admitted that the loss against Milan last season has been playing on the minds of the squad.

“There were moments reminiscent of last season. The coach has a complete vision of the creative players: Kylian Mbappé and Arda Güler are good at getting back behind the ball. This makes a big difference in reducing the opposition’s chances,” he said (via MilanNews).

“Furthermore, the new coach is asking me to play much further forward than last year: it’s a big change for me. It’s true that winning home games is the recipe for going far in the Champions League. We learned that from the defeat against Milan last season.

“Tonight we created many chances, but the two goals came from penalties and our performance deserved more: we should have won by a bigger margin.”

The Rossoneri won 3-1 at the Bernabeu on November 5 last year, with Malick Thiaw, Alvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders getting the goals. As it happens, none of those three are at the club any more.