Playing against Real Sociedad at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night, Real Madrid dropped two points and widened the gap with the league leaders, with the game ending in a goalless draw.

It was a frustrating game for the Merengues as they dominated not only the possession but also the chances created. However, the lack of a good finishing touch hit them hard and affected the final result.

Thibaut Courtois spoke to the press after his team’s disappointing result and emphasized that the result was harsh on the hosts given the number of chances they created.

“We did enough to win, we created lots of chances. They did too in the second half, but we deserved to win on the whole today. It’s disappointing, but Real are a good side and can cause you problems. It’s a draw that’s a bit disappointing,” he said.

Alex Remiro had a career-best display for La Real, making seven saves and three saves from inside the box at Santiago Bernabeu. Speaking about the Spanish goalkeeper’s performance, Courtois said:

“The goalkeepers usually have great games here. Remiro is a top keeper and he produced some great saves, especially the one from Vini when he tried to dink it over him. He’s had a great game and it’s a shame we couldn’t get a goal.”

A big moment in the game came when Antonio Rudiger was brought down in the box during a corner kick but the referee did not even consult VAR to check the incident. The Belgian international refused to lament over it and said it was a decision that could have gone either way.

“I’ve heard that it could have been a penalty. Sometimes penalties are given for holding in the box and sometimes they’re not. It’s a lottery, it’s like handball, sometimes the VAR comes in, and sometimes it doesn’t,” Courtois said.

“We can’t make any excuses because we missed our chances to win and a possible penalty isn’t going to change that”.

Real Madrid have now fallen five points behind league leaders Barcelona and cannot afford to lose any more points. Courtois elaborated on their situation and said that Thursday’s game against Valencia was crucial.

“We need to win on Thursday. Winning that game is important to get us back into a good run of form.  We put in a good performance and we have to keep going and get a win on Thursday,” he said.

Nacho Fernandez started the game at right-back and played the entire 90 minutes. He was tasked with controlling the dangerous Takefusa Kubo and did a good job playing out of position. He shared his disappointment over losing two points when he spoke to the press after the game.

“It was a very good game for the fans and was played at a very high intensity. Both teams produced a great performance. The disappointment is that we created clear chances and didn’t put them away. We were looking for a win and the draw is disappointing,” Nacho said.

The defender then went on to commend the opposition on a splendid performance and made a special mention of their goalkeeper Remiro.

“Both Remiro and Real Sociedad are having an unbelievable season.  They’re a great side and they showed that here. We did a good job but we’re disappointed not to have got the win. But this doesn’t stop here, there’s a long way to go,” Nacho added.

The 33-year-old came dangerously close to being sent off in the game after cutting off the ball with his hand in the second half. When asked about the incident, he said:

“It was a weird moment and I stopped the play. I thought it was given in our favour. I shouldn’t have cut the ball out but that’s football.”

The Spaniard finally shared his thoughts about the team’s difficult situation and urged his teammates to keep going stronger, saying:

“When you miss clear-cut chances it gets to you but the team battled on for the whole game. Perhaps towards the end, we felt the extra time from the Copa clash the other day. But this is a long-run thing, we have to keep going and fight for everything”.

Eduardo Camavinga was the third Real Madrid player to speak to the press and reiterated his teammates’ thoughts on the lost opportunity.

“There are games when we don’t manage to score. It’s a long season, we won’t lose our confidence and we’re looking forward because there’s another game in three days.”

The world was surprised when Ancelotti deployed him as a left-back on the night. However, Camavinga said it was not his first time as a defender and shared his history with the left-back position.

“I played at left-back already at the World Cup. I’m here to help the team and give my all for this club. I played in this position for 30 minutes in the Rennes academy as well.”

When asked about the title race, the youngster said: “The season is so long, there are lots of games still to come. I can’t tell you who will win or not at this stage, five points is nothing, we’ll see what happens”.

Source: Real Madrid website