Thibaut Courtois vented his frustration after Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to PSG and appeared to take a swipe at Toni Kroos for his ‘very stupid pass’ in the build-up to Kylian Mbappe’s late winner in Paris.
Madrid had looked to heading back to the Bernabeu as favourites in the Champions League round of 16 tie as Courtois saved Lionel Messi’s penalty, but Mbappe had other ideas after Kroos lost possession just past the halfway line in stoppage time.
The German’s wayward pass to Eden Hazard was intercepted by Marquinhos and PSG worked their way up the pitch to Neymar, who found Mbappe with an exquisite backheel.
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Mbappe – who has been linked with Real Madrid – still had so much to do out on the left byline, but burst through Eder Militao and Lucas Vazquez with ease before nutmegging Courtois with a cool finish.
The hosts held firm to ensure they start in Spain with a narrow lead on March 9 and Courtois described his emotions as he spoke with RMC Sport after the final whistle.
‘We had defended really well, then we gave away a very stupid pass… it’s very hard,’ the Real Madrid goalkeeper said.
‘We had not played great, but bringing a 0-0 to the Bernabeu would have been better. ‘We will have to win no matter what. We know we have to win and hopefully we can do it with the support of the fans.’
On Mbappe’s performance, the Belgium international added: ‘I denied a few. ‘His last action is quality, class. He is one of the best in the world.’
Madrid duo Casemiro and Ferland Mendy picked up bookings at the Parc des Princes and will now be suspended for the second leg of the clash.
‘It’s a shame they can’t be there for the return leg,’ Courtois said. ‘Mendy didn’t deserve a yellow for his foul, he had no intention of doing that.
‘The referee was very generous with the yellow cards today.’
It was a hard defeat to take for Courtois given he had denied Messi from the penalty spot just past the hour-mark and he had clearly done his homework.
‘We studied it a lot because of Barcelona and what he did here,’ he added. ‘The idea was to go to the left. It was a good thing for us to stay in the game.’
