Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois spoke to the press after the victory over Villarreal 2-1 in the 28th round of La Liga.

Courtois said: "Our start wasn't good, but that's normal because we had a little rest. Our reaction after the goal was good, as we scored the equalizer and then quickly took the lead, and we defended well in the second half."

He added: "The commitment of everyone and their hard work for the win was important because Villarreal is in fifth place and playing well, and the stadium is always difficult."

He continued: "We play when we have to play and we don’t want to make excuses. I’m happy to be able to talk now without saying we drew or lost due to a lack of rest, but it’s not normal after playing 120 minutes on Wednesday and penalties, with significant fatigue, to play today at 6:30 PM. I understand that La Liga doesn't like to schedule so that the three big teams play on the same day, but sometimes it happens, and in the Premier League, all teams playing in the Champions League play on the same day."

He added: "I believe what happened is a disrespect to our team and players because we could have left today with one of the players injured. The physical fatigue is very high. The match could have been held the day before the Atletico and Barcelona match; I don’t think there would be any problem. We can even talk about a great Sunday as we do in Belgium or England, where there is a great Sunday. It’s also good for broadcasting, but sometimes other interests come into play, and that’s not easy."

He followed up: "What was the best save I made today? I would say the ball that came before the goal, but if they scored a goal 20 seconds later, it wouldn’t have much value. Ayoze stared at me and said, 'You’re not normal.' And Pepe's ball that I saved was also important before the break because it prevented them from equalizing. It was good work from everyone, and I’m happy with the three points."

Regarding Kylian Mbappe: "He is a great and amazing person. He is there when we need him. Against Atletico, the matches were a bit harder because they defended a lot and didn’t leave big spaces; today he was present and scored two goals."