Courtois dismisses controversy over Marseille's ‘clear’ penalties

Thibaut Courtois said that Real Madrid deserved to beat Olympique Marseille (2-1) in a match in which the goal was to “learn from last year,” when they lost to Milan, because, in his opinion, “winning at home” allows you to “go far” in the Champions League.

“Winning your home games makes you go far. We wanted to learn from last year, when we lost here against Milan. We deserved to win, we created a lot of chances and the two goals came from two penalties. We deserved more to score goals from open play and not from penalties, which were clear,” he said on 'Movistar+'.

“The coach asked us to do the same at halftime. In the second half, they pressed less because every time we went forward it was almost a chance. In the first ten or 15 minutes of the second half, we were poor on the ball and found it harder. In the end, it was a good win to start with," he added. Courtois also explained the differences he is experiencing in goal this season, with Xabi Alonso as coach, compared to last season, with Carlo Ancelotti as coach.

“The coach is very keen that the wingers, Kylian Mbappe, and the attacking midfielders have to drop back, and that changes a lot. So far, we've done pretty well and we have to continue along those lines. The coach also asks me to play further forward and I run more (laughs),” he said.