"We don't care about the result"

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois did not attach any particular importance to the Merengues' 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in a friendly 'El Clasico' in the New York metropolitan area on Saturday.

"It's pre-season. We're working and obviously there are things we can perhaps improve. But in the end we are with the players we are with and so are they," said the goalkeeper in the mixed zone about the absences of the stars of both teams.

"It's a friendly that doesn't give us much more than maybe the prestige of the pre-season, of winning this game. I think we had chances to do more. Maybe they did too and in the end the result is what it is. We don't care, we have to keep working. On Tuesday against Chelsea maybe we have to give a better image of more chances on goal. But it's all good," he added.

Pau Victor, with a brace, was the star of a Barcelona side that has won all four friendlies it has played against Madrid on US soil. Nico Paz got Madrid's goal in a match that was suspended for more than an hour because of a storm.

"It's more important for everyone's safety than to continue playing football," Courtois said of the stoppage.

"I don't know if in the end there was a lot of lightning or not, but there was a lot of rain and we couldn't have played anyway. You have to be professional and it's a bit like what tennis players do: even when it rains they go from inside to outside and for them it's even worse because for us it doesn't usually happen," he argued.

In addition, Courtois stressed that this year he feels especially good about working in pre-season from the start and also shared praise for two of the team's youngsters in Endrick and Arda Guler.

"Endrick has a lot of strength, a lot of power. Maybe he needs to be a little bit calmer still. I'm not saying he's nervous, but it's normal that you're playing with Madrid in big games and you get a bit more nervous. But you can see in training that he has a lot of goal and a lot of strength," he said.

"Arda is a different player compared to last year. After his knee injury, he has worked a lot in the gym and you can see that physically he is a different guy. He has a lot of finishing, a lot of passing. We have a lot of good players and they're going to fight for places and that's what helps Madrid to be Madrid and win trophies," he said.

 

August 4, 2024