Thibaut Courtois Was Desperate to Beat Liverpool as Furious Text Message Leaked

Thibaut Courtois' desperation to beat Liverpool was disclosed by a journalist during Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat at Anfield on Tuesday night.

Real tasted defeat for the second time this season after Alexis Mac Allister scored the only of the game on the hour mark, heading home from a free-kick.

That was the only time Courtois was beaten in the fixture, where he made a total of eight saves - including a stunning stop to deny Dominik Szoboszlai from point-blank range in the first half.

Not for the first time against Liverpool, the towering Belgian was in inspired form in between the sticks - producing a performance that was nearly on par with his heroics in the 2022 Champions League final triumph.

And during in the game, respected journalist Guillem Balague revealed just why Courtois has extra motivation when he comes up against English sides.

After Liverpool's Alisson Becker won a best goalkeeper poll Balague ran, the former Atletico Madrid and Chelsea shotstopper messaged him to ask "why they don’t see in England what he does".

Thibaut Courtois made eight saves against Liverpool. Image: Getty

Following his masterclass in Paris in 2022, Balague claims he spoke to him post-match and said, “what will they say now in England??” during a hug.

Despite a fine showing from Courtois, Real suffered a first Champions League loss this season in what could represent a dent to their hopes of finish in the top eight and avoid a play-off round like last season.

Afterwards, Courtois gave a honest assessment of the mistakes Real made on Merseyside - focusing on giving away cheap fouls and not having the quality in the final third.

"It's a very difficult stadium where you can lose, you have to show your face, play better, but these are matches that are decided by details," he told Movistar.

"It's a shame, I tried to keep the team together, but in the second half, especially, we committed too many fouls near the area, where they are good and that's how they scored the goal.

"We were good with the ball, we defended well, but we lacked something in the final third, where we struggled to get forward and lost possession too often.

"We need to improve. Ultimately, we're playing at one of the toughest grounds in the Champions League, and we can lose, even if we don't want to. Now we have to beat Olympiacos away and then face Manchester City at home."

Courtois has extra motivation against English sides, it has been claimed. Image: Getty

Real are currently fifth in the Champions League standings with nine points and return to action against Olympiacos on 26 November, before hosting Manchester City on 10 December.

After that, they take on Monaco and Benfica in their final league phase fixtures in January.