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Thibaut Courtois calls out his own Real Madrid teammates after what they did against Arsenal as he names player they're missing

Home> Football> Football News> Champions League

Updated 09:46 17 Apr 2025 GMT+1Published 22:52 16 Apr 2025 GMT+1

Thibaut Courtois calls out his own Real Madrid teammates after what they did against Arsenal as he names player they're missing

Thibaut Courtois pulled no punches as he gave an honest assessment of Real Madrid's Champions League elimination.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Featured Image Credit: via X

Topics: Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Football, Champions League

Nasir Jabbar
Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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@NasJabbar

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Thibaut Courtois has called out his own Real Madrid teammates as he named the ONE player they are missing.

Real were dumped out of the Champions League following their crushing 5-1 aggregate defeat to Arsenal.

The holders entered Wednesday's second-leg with a three-goal deficit following their humbling at the Emirates last week.

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And Carlo Ancelotti's side once again succumbed to Mikel Arteta's team as the Gunners ran out 2-1 winners at the Bernabeu.

Bukayo Saka redeemed himself following his penalty miss by opening the scoring. Vinicius Jr levelled proceedings before Gabriel Martinelli grabbed a late winner.

Real were toothless in attack as Arsenal dominated the game, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham failing to influence the match.

Their tactics left a lot to be desired as Courtois, who saved Saka's first-half penalty, bemoaned his side's own tactics, questioning why they crossed a lot.

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Thibaut Courtois cuts a dejected figure following the final whistle. Image: Getty
Thibaut Courtois cuts a dejected figure following the final whistle. Image: Getty

In doing so, he name-dropped Joselu, who popped up with some crucial moments in Real's Champions League-winning campaign last season.

"We crossed a lot, but we didn’t have a player like Joselu," he said. "Maybe we should have crossed less and tried other things. We need to be self-critical.

"We have to be self-critical, sometimes we need to play more as a team."

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On Ancelotti, he added: "We have ZERO doubt about Carlo Ancelotti."

Courtois then conceded that Arsenal were the better team across the two legs.

"Arsenal were better than us, that’s why they’re through," he said, before looking ahead for the rest of the season and beyond. "We still have a long season ahead of us, the league, the final in ten days, and then the Club World Cup. We must be better."

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Real will turn their attention to the La Liga as they sit in second place, four points behind league leaders Barcelona, with seven league games remaining of the season.

They also have a Copa del Rey final against Barca, not to mention this summer's Club World Cup.

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