Real Madrid fans stunned as Thibaut Courtois breaks ranks with comment about Xabi Alonso's start as manager

Thibaut Courtois has attracted attention after comments made about Xabi Alonso's first game in charge of Real Madrid.

Following his appointment as Carlo Ancelotti's replacement, former midfielder Alonso took charge of Madrid for the first time on Wednesday.

Los Blancos took on Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal as they kick-started their bid to win the FIFA Club World Cup.

However, it was not the start Alonso would have been hoping for as Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Hilal.

Speaking after the match, goalkeeper Courtois spoke about Ancelotti when asked to comment on Alonso's first game in charge.

As per Football Espana, the Belgian told Cadena SER: "We’ve been with Carlo for four years, we’ve got our routines, and now we have to change them to what the new coach wants.

"We still have the automatisms from Carlo and the movements we had to do. It’s not something that can be changed in four days; it doesn’t happen immediately. We’re watching videos and talking a lot. We’ll learn from this game, and things will improve in the future."

Courtois added: "In the first half, we lacked rhythm on the ball. We needed to play faster and look more between the lines so we wouldn’t have to run so much after the ball in this heat.

"We played better, despite not having great chances, and we’ll go into Sunday’s game with the same idea."

Reacting to Courtois' comments on social media, one fan said: "Most of the goals are his fault so not sure why he would say that."

Another tweeted: "Blaming Ancelloti for this won't win us the Club World Cup."

A third fan added: "Is this not an insult to Ancelotti, who won so much for Real Madrid?"

Xabi Alonso has taken charge of Real Madrid for the first time. Image: Getty

Someone else wrote: "Ancelotti is already in Brazil and you still blame him…"

A fifth commented: "He obviously not a fan of Ancelotti ball."

Another fan said: "He's cooking Ancelotti."

Reflecting on his first match, Alonso said: "The second half was considerably better than the first. We were lacking in several areas in the first period, both with and without the ball.

"We were losing the ball too quickly, we couldn't find a balance. They're things we have talked about but we took a while to get to grips with them. I'm pleased with the reaction at half-time. We managed to give a new look to the game, change the pace a bit and find more guys to bring the right rhythm and control to the play."