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Thibaut Courtois has admitted that Real Madrid did not do enough to win the match against Al Hilal. The Belgian goalkeeper thanked all the fans who supported them at their Club World Cup opener, where they were held to a draw by the Saudi Pro League side.
Taking to his Instagram, Courtois posted photos from the match and said that it was not a good result but just the start of the Xabi Alonso era. He captioned it:
“It's not enough but this is just the beginning. Thanks to all the Madridistas who were in the stands for their support. Hala Madrid.”
Talking to the media after the match, Courtois said that they were too slow in the first half but were able to fix things in the second half. He added that it was a shame to miss the penalty in injury time and said via SI:
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"We played too slowly in the first half and they looked the more likely. Then we got the goal and then gave away a silly penalty that levelled it up. In the second half we fixed things we needed to and looked a bit quicker, more agile."
"We looked dangerous but it wasn't to be. It's a shame to miss the penalty, but if we keep up the way we did things in the second half, that will surely help us in the upcoming games. We were better in the second half and that's the line we have to follow."
Gonzalo Garcia gave Real Madrid the lead in the match, but a penalty from Ruben Neves leveled things up before the break. Federico Valverde had the chance to win it with a penalty in the second-half stoppage time, but Bono did well to save the effort and force Los Blancos to share the points with Al Hilal.
Thibaut Courtois happy with Real Madrid debutants
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen made their debuts for Real Madrid on Wednesday, and Thibaut Courtois was happy with their performance. He said that they had a decent first match for the defensive duo and added that they would review the game soon.
He said via SI:
"It's our first match together and it's not easy, but they did a good job and if there are things to work on, we'll look at that in the videos. It was a decent first game for them."
Real Madrid face Pachuca next in the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday. They take on RB Salzburg in the final group game on Thursday.
