Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois has [conceded that his team found it tough to handle the intensity from both Liverpool and the Anfield faithful](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/thibaut-courtois-makes-honest-admission-30475131), following Wednesday's 2-0 loss in the Champions League. Goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo secured a fifth straight win in Europe for Arne Slot's men.
Courtois, who was pivotal in past clashes with [Liverpool](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/), including the 2022 Champions League final, acknowledged the challenge of playing at Anfield: "Liverpool are one of the most in-form teams in Europe at the moment and playing here is always difficult. We competed and defended well, especially in the first half, but offensively things didn't work out for us and we struggled to create danger."
He added, "We couldn't define the counterattacks with the final pass and that makes it difficult. In the second half they quickly went 1-0 up and unfortunately we missed the penalty. We kept trying, but after the second goal it was already difficult."
With Madrid now sitting 24th in the Champions League table, Courtois recognizes there's significant ground to cover if Carlo Ancelotti's men are to make it through to the knockout stages
Courtois said: "We lacked a bit of play. We played better in the second half, but they finished well. Obviously we are short of players, but we never use that as an excuse. We are who we are and we will continue fighting.
"Today we lost against a better team and that is fine. It makes it difficult for us to get into the top eight, but we have to try to win against Atalanta and the other two games that remain to qualify."