Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has taken the blame for his side’s 3-0 defeat to Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.
The Blues were beaten 3-0 away from home to cement their exit from the Champions League at the round of 16 stage. Lionel Messi struck twice, his goals sandwiching Ousmane Dembele’s powerful strike in the first half.
The win for Ernesto Valverde’s side means they progress to join Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Sevilla, Juventus and AS Roma in the last eight of the competition.
Chelsea have to contend with only the FA Cup this season as they only real trophy they are capable of winning and Courtois points to himself as the reason the Blues are in this situation, at least for last night’s game.
The Belgium shot stopper says he needs to ‘be a man’ and admit when he makes mistakes, after he conceded two goals, he may have been able to stop had he been fully concentrated.
I’ve played against him [Messi] a lot of times, conceded goals through my legs with him, for a goalkeeper like me from two metres that’s probably the weakest point through your legs because if I’m standing in a normal position there’s a lot of space in between.
It’s annoying, but I don’t think I have to hide, I have to come out, be a man, and say I made a mistake and move on. It’s unlucky to go our with four goals from four mistakes. We have to move on, work hard and continue.
Thibaut Courtois, Metro
