Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois Unhappy With La Liga Scheduling
Real Madrid managed a 2-1 win against Villarreal in their latest La Liga clash on March 15. Juan Foyth opened the scoring (7') for the Yellow Submarine before Kylian Mbappe bagged a brace (17', 23').
It was a quick turnaround for Los Merengues after their midweek UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Atletico Madrid. The game went 120 minutes at Wanda Metropolitano.
Thibaut Courtois has sounded off on the jam packed schedule as the Belgian shot stopper reckons it is too tight. Read on to know what he said after the game (via Real Madrid).
Speaking after the game, Courtois said:
We play when we have to play and we don't want to look for excuses. I'm happy to be able to be speaking now without saying that we drew or lost because of lack of rest. But it's not normal after playing 120 minutes on Wednesday and the penalty shootout, with huge physical effort, to play today at 6:30 p.m.... I understand that LaLiga doesn't like to set the schedules so that the big three play on the same day, but sometimes that’s what it takes, and in the Premier League the teams that play in the Champions League all play on Saturday.Thibaut Courtois
He further added:
I think it was a lack of respect towards our team and our players, because someone might have got injured today. The physical toll is very high. The game could be put on Sunday before Atlético-Barcelona. I don't think there's any problem, you could even talk about a Super Sunday like we do in Belgium or in England, where they both have it. It's also good for television but other interests sometimes come into play and it's not easy.Thibaut Courtois
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Apratim is an experienced sports journalist having covered European and World Football, Combat Sports, Olympic Sports, and more for online media publications like Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. He is currently an MSc. in Sport Marketing student at Loughborough University, London.