Thibaut Courtois says Liverpool’s players were baffled by how many saves he made during their Champions League clash on Tuesday.
In the end, Arne Slot’s men ended up beating Real Madrid 1-0 thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s header, but for most of the game, it felt like there was no way past the Belgian.
Due to his height and how far he can spread across the goal, it makes scoring against Los Blancos hard, especially when he has the likes of Eder Militao and Dean Huijsen in front of him.
Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool competes for the ball with Dean Huijsen of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at Anfield.
Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images
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You could tell as the game went on that Liverpool’s first-team squad were getting frustrated by the number of saves he was making, with Courtois now sharing what he and some of the Reds’ players were laughing about during the game.
Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk were laughing at the number of saves Thibaut Courtois was making
Liverpool’s final-third form has been far from its best this term.
Mohamed Salah has been a fraction of his former self, and although everything finally seems to be coming together, there are still question marks about whether Liverpool have what it takes to win the Premier League and Champions League.
Of course, it’s still early in the season, but if the Reds can’t start to get themselves a couple of goals in games and get back to their best, they’ll be left behind.
Their performance was much better against Real on Tuesday, but even then, due to Courtois’ form, they only just won the game.
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And now, while speaking to Stan Sport, the Belgian has shared why Liverpool’s players were laughing with him during the game.
“They started to laugh at me, Virgil, Szoboszlai and Salah, and I don’t know who else started laughing like why and Konate also like ‘why you save this again,’” he said.
“And so they were getting a bit desperate at that point, and they started to laugh with it because obviously, I think they also have the final of 2022 still in their memories.
“That’s what happened, so obviously it was some good banter in the game [and] eventually they took that final win that is a pity for us, also for me.”
Liverpool must keep up their current run of form when they face Manchester City on Sunday
Now that Liverpool have won two games in a row, there’s a lot more positivity going into the tie than there was a few weeks ago.
The Reds finally seem to be getting back on track and back to their best after what was a rather horrendous month for the club in October.
At the start of the season, most people thought that Liverpool would easily win the Premier League and the Champions League, but up until this point, they’ve just made things difficult for themselves.
Xabi Alonso, Head Coach of Real Madrid, embraces Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, prior to the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at Anfield.
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Manchester City will be no walk in the park, and if Slot doesn’t get his men to bring their A-game against the Cityzens, things could go terribly.
However, as long as the core of the Reds’ team is kept similar to how they’ve lined up over their last couple of games, it should be an entertaining affair that ends with another Liverpool win.