Courtois: We achieved the most important thing, and this is the secret to the clean sheet

Thibaut Courtois appeared in press statements following Real Madrid's 3-0 win against Valencia in the 12th round of LaLiga at the Mestalla Stadium.

Thibaut Courtois stated in remarks to Real Madrid TV: "Winning is the most important thing. Goals and keeping a clean sheet all contribute to the team's benefit, but victory remains essential. Playing at Mestalla is always difficult, even when Valencia are not at their best in LaLiga."

The Belgian goalkeeper spoke about the important save he made when the score was still 0-0, explaining: "Goalkeepers need to be a bit pessimistic, because your teammate might send a bad pass, so you have to be ready at all times. The player shot well, and I managed to rise appropriately to reach the ball and clear it."

He added: "If they had scored at that moment, the situation would have been different. I trusted in our ability to come back, but it's better that things went this way. All my teammates talked to me about that save."

Regarding Real Madrid's success in keeping a clean sheet for the second time in the last three matches, Courtois said: "Nono, the goalkeeping coach, was not happy about the goals we conceded to opponents in some matches. Conceding goals always leaves a bad feeling, so we constantly try to keep our net clean."

He continued: "It is important that we do not concede goals, as a single goal may be enough to secure victory, and keeping a clean sheet gives the team a positive boost in terms of overall morale. We hope to maintain this rhythm after the return."

He concluded about the three goals the team scored against Valencia, saying: "They were wonderful goals. We know well the nature of Fede's shots, and the second goal came after a good movement from Arda Güler inside the penalty area, which is what the coach asks of us, to push more players into the area, and that’s what Arda did. As for the third goal, we had talked about this play beforehand. I tried to move behind the defense, and Arda Güler's pass to Kylian Mbappé was absolutely fantastic."