Courtois spoke to the media after Real Madrid's victory against Athletic at the Santiago Bernabéu: “It was a difficult game. Athletic, after playing on Thursday, came to defend well. They didn't press high and there weren't many spaces. In the first half, we struggled a bit to find spaces to create danger, but in the second half we started really well. We attacked well and created a lot of danger. The goal didn't want to come until Valverde once again conjured up a wonder goal, like he does best”.
“This was a very important win, we want to keep fighting. Barça won yesterday and it was our turn to win. The good thing was that we created chances in the second half and kept a clean sheet. They didn't have many chances, just one or two. The offensive and defensive aspects were very good in the second half”.
Valverde's wonder goal
“His striking of the ball is very unusual and very clean. Yesterday in training, he took a shot that looked like it was going wide and suddenly curled and I said, ‘How did you shoot like that?’. It's a very crisp, fast and powerful shot. He takes shots like that every week in training. It's one of our strengths. We've been telling him for years to shoot because he has a great shot. And that's what he did.”
Feelings ahead of the upcoming matches
“Confident. Getafe away is always a tough game for us. It's a derby and we have to win it to stay in the fight. Then comes the Copa del Rey final and we want to give the fans something to cheer about after the elimination. Winning the Cup final would be very important”.