Courtois reveals why Real Madrid were eliminated by Arsenal, because of one player

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has criticised his team-mates' performance after the reigning Champions League champions were deservedly beaten 1-2 by Arsenal on Wednesday night and were eliminated 5-1 on aggregate.

The London club arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu with a 3-0 lead from the first leg at the Emirates and could have increased that advantage in the first half if Courtois had not saved Bukaya Saka's poorly executed penalty.

"Although in the first half we thought everything would be open to score the first goal, in the end they scored first. We reacted quickly, we continued to believe, but we were not specific in attack. I don't think Raya had to defend any serious chance. We lost to a better Arsenal and we have to accept that," Courtois initially said.

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"At the end of the day, they are a team that defends well, they are organised, they press well and it is difficult to find space. We threw a lot of balls, but this year we don't have Joselu, a classic striker in the penalty area."

"We have to carefully analyze what we can improve. We still have a lot of season ahead of us, the fight for the Club World Cup. It was good to believe in the comeback, I hope we can still bring them a little joy this season," concluded the Belgian goalkeeper.

Recall that Joselu scored two goals against Bayern Munich last season in a major upset against the German club to enter the final, while today he plays for Al-Gharafa. /Telegraph/