Courtois's Rant Against the Schedule After Villarreal Scandal: 'It's Not...'

Thibaut Courtois criticized the schedule of the match against Villarreal CF. The match between both clubs was played with less than 72 hours of rest after the Champions match against Atlético de Madrid. The Belgian described it as "a lack of respect" to Real Madrid itself.

LaLiga, responsible for setting the schedules, forced the club to play under those conditions, without enough time to rest or prepare for the match. The Belgian goalkeeper joined the club's criticism and expressed: "Today's situation was a lack of respect toward us. They could've scheduled our match for Sunday", after the match at La Cerámica.

They Can't Play Like This with the Players' Health

"We play when we have to play and we don't make excuses. Today I'm happy to say that we won and didn't lose or draw due to lack of rest", the Belgian goalkeeper began saying.

However, Thibaut Courtois didn't hesitate to harshly criticize the decision of the organization presided over by Javier Tebas: "It's not normal to play today at 6:30 PM after Wednesday's exertion".

The Real Madrid footballer compared the situation with the Premier League. "There they do schedule the big teams to play together when they participate in the Champions and nothing happens", something that doesn't happen in LaLiga.

"I understand that LaLiga doesn't like to schedule the three big teams on the same day, but it is what it is. Today's situation was a lack of respect toward us. They could've scheduled our match for Sunday at 6:30 PM, before the Atlético-Barça, and there wouldn't have been any problem", he explained.

Real Madrid's Response to LaLiga

Meanwhile, LaLiga has replied bluntly to Real Madrid, stating that the white club never requested a schedule change for the match against Villarreal CF.

From LaLiga they claim that Real Madrid was offered the option to play their match against CD Leganés at 4:15 PM. However, they say it was the Madrid club itself that rejected the proposal.

In Valdebebas they assure that it was Emilio Butragueño who communicated with the competition on two occasions: one before the Champions draw and another after.