Thibaut Courtois admitted Declan Rice’s brilliance left him helpless, but warned that Real Madrid won’t roll over at the Bernabéu despite a 3–0 deficit.
Thibaut Courtois didn’t try to sugarcoat it. After watching Declan Rice bend in not one but two outrageous free-kicks to help Arsenal dismantle Real Madrid 3–0 at the Emirates, the Madrid keeper admitted he could do little more than watch.
“For the second one, I don’t think he could have hit it any better if he tried,” Courtois said post-match. “They’re unnecessary fouls where there isn’t any danger. If you know you’re playing against a side with good free-kick takers, you can’t be making those fouls.”
Rice had never scored a direct free-kick in his senior career. By the 70th minute, he’d buried two. Courtois, usually one of the best in the world at stopping the unstoppable, was nowhere. He’d tried to set the wall right. He’d even thrown in an extra man. None of it mattered.
“I thought I’d positioned the wall well for the first goal,” Courtois said. “I always add an extra guy in there to avoid that curler but he struck it so well. I take responsibility by putting an extra man in the wall. I knew he struck free-kicks really well but I didn’t realise he got so much curl on them.”
Madrid weren’t just undone by Rice. Mikel Merino added a third and Madrid, who looked composed in the first half, simply fell apart.
“We forgot to play our game in the second period,” Courtois admitted. “We left people in a lot of space and weren’t composed on the ball. They scored two stunning free-kicks and after the third, we didn’t react well.”
Despite the scoreline, Courtois is clinging to Madrid’s well-earned reputation for the dramatic — and their home advantage at the Bernabéu.
“It’s tough at 3-0 but we’re strong at home and people need to have faith in this team because we’ll give it everything we’ve got to turn the result around,” he said. “It feels as though there’s no chance after tonight, but things always change in football.”
Courtois knows they’ve done it before. But so does everyone else. And the difference this time?
Arsenal.
“I’ll keep studying for the return leg,” Courtois added.