1 hour ago
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Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid's goalkeeper, expressed his dissatisfaction with the number of fouls his team conceded in their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
Alexis Mac Allister scored the only goal of the match just past the hour mark, finally breaching Courtois' defence. The Belgian's impressive performance prevented Liverpool from increasing their lead in the Champions League encounter.
Reflecting on the defeat, Courtois, who received praise from Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk for a display reminiscent of the 2022 Champions League final, said: "Some of the fouls we commit are unnecessary. We still need to improve against strong opponents away from home.
"We didn't have enough possession in the other half, and that's where we want to play. That's where we have to improve away from home, against good teams... We could play better.
"These games are decided by details, and that's what happened. We must stay calm, we're OK."
Courtois' standout save came from Dominik Szoboszlai in the first half. Explaining his strategy, the goalkeeper said: "You have to occupy space. Szoboszlai was on his own, and if I stayed on the goal line it would have been almost like a penalty, it would be impossible to stop.
"I wanted to go for the cross, but it would have been too dangerous. I'm two metres tall, I have long arms, I threw myself at it with everything. I made myself big. It wasn't exactly a save from the goalkeeper's manual, but it worked."
Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso acknowledged his team owed Courtois a debt of gratitude for preventing a heavier defeat.
"There are different ways of losing," said Alonso, whose only previous loss as Leverkusen boss came in a 5-2 defeat to city rivals Atletico Madrid. "Today's game is very different to the Metropolitano [against Atletico]. Today we gave everything, competed, the attitude was good. We lacked some things we should improve.
"I think we competed well... Thibaut kept us in it, the goal gave them the advantage, but I can't criticise the team... We leave with a bad taste in our mouths because of the defeat, but we have to keep going."
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