Courtois: “Now people realize we are playing better and they’re more scared of us”

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois talked to the press ahead of Wednesday’s match against Ajax in what will be the first leg of the Champions League’s Round of 16 tie between both clubs. Courtois explained why the team has improved their form over the last few weeks while completing some encouraging performances against quality teams like Sevilla, Barcelona, Atletico de Madrid or Valencia.

“The most important thing for us now is that we attack and defend as a whole, with a lot of discipline. When we play we do it to win it all, that’s our goal. We want to reach the Copa del Rey Final and also we want to get to the last week of La Liga with good odds of winning the title. The same goes for the Champions League. That’s just how it works for this club,” explained Courtois.

The goalkeeper was also asked about whether he sees Madrid’s opponents taking a different approach now that the team has been playing better.

“Now they realize it’s harder to beat us. We had a very bad month past October but now they see we’re playing better and they’re more scared of us. We will fight for it all,” added Courtois.

Real Madrid are the heavy favorites to advance to the Quarterfinals yet Courtois did not want to embrace that role in this tie.

“Ajax are a great team. They signed Blind, Tadic, and they already had great players like Zyech, De Light or De Jong. They know how to play, they move the ball and we have to be very careful. Ajax have proven this year during the matches against Bayern that they are a great team. It’s going to be a tough game, we have to stay focused, we have the experience and we know we will have to do our best. Nobody in our team thinks it will be an easy game,” concluded Courtois, proving that he knows Ajax.