Courtois: Real Madrid Lacked 'Born Centre-Forward'

Thibaut Courtois shares his thoughts on Real Madrid's Champions League exit. Learn what he thinks went wrong for the team.

Thibaut Courtois attributed Real Madrid's Champions League exit to the team's inability to break down Arsenal's defense. “We didn't have the accuracy up front, I don't think Raya had a save to make,” Courtois said, highlighting the lack of threat posed by Madrid's attackers.

🏁 @RealMadridEn 1-2 @Arsenal
⚽ 65' Saka.
⚽ 67' @ViniJr
⚽ 90' + 3' Martinelli. pic.twitter.com/ORFzGi44g3

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Courtois pointed out that Real Madrid lacks a born centre-forward, which hindered their attacking performance. The team's superstars, including Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, failed to create significant scoring opportunities against Arsenal's defense.

“We lost against a superior Arsenal and we have to accept it,” Courtois said, acknowledging the team's exit from the Champions League. He noted that Madrid's attacking approach wasn't effective, saying, “We put in a lot of crosses but this year we don't have a Joselu, a born centre-forward up there, we have to analyse what we can do better.”

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Courtois emphasized the need for collective team play, saying, “I think we are a team, but we have to make more collective moves rather than individual ones.” He added that Arsenal's defense was solid, making it hard for Madrid to generate scoring opportunities: “If they double mark Vini or Kylian, a two-on-one might come off for you once, but not five times... It was very hard to generate danger... (Arsenal) are a team that is very hard to score against.”