Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has criticised his teammates following their 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in Sunday's El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Belgian international described the performance as an 'unacceptable image' for the club and suggested the team lacked fight.
Carlo Ancelotti's side were outplayed by their arch-rivals, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring twice, while Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres also found the net. Courtois pointed out that Barcelona had played a Europa League match on Thursday, yet showed more energy than the hosts.
Speaking to Movistar, Courtois said: 'Today we gave an unacceptable image for this club. There are players missing, but you didn't notice that it was them that played Thursday. They found a lot of space. We weren't compact and weren't able to keep the goals out.'
The goalkeeper also questioned Ancelotti's tactics, particularly the use of a false nine, which he noted had failed in a previous Copa del Rey defeat to Athletic Bilbao. 'We played with a false nine in the Copa and hardly had any shots, and it was the same here,' he added. 'This badge demands that you fight, and in the second half we did not. We could have lost by even more.'
Despite the heavy defeat, Real Madrid remain nine points clear at the top of LaLiga with nine games remaining. Barcelona, meanwhile, have climbed to third after winning their last five matches under manager Xavi.
