{"id":1248,"date":"2025-11-20T17:06:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2025-11-20T17:06:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:06:51","slug":"courtois-reflects-on-clasico-intensity-and-plays-down-tension-with-lamine-yamal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/20\/courtois-reflects-on-clasico-intensity-and-plays-down-tension-with-lamine-yamal\/","title":{"rendered":"Courtois reflects on &#8216;Cl\u00e1sico&#8217; intensity and plays down tension with Lamine Yamal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" src=\"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-26.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-26.png 1000w, https:\/\/mktynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-26-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/mktynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-26-768x511.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has downplayed any suggestion of lingering tension with Barcelona\u2019s Lamine Yamal following last weekend\u2019s heated Cl\u00e1sico, insisting their on-field exchanges are simply part of the rivalry\u2019s long-standing drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking to Spanish outlet &#8216;COPE&#8217;, Courtois addressed the verbal back-and-forth that marked the match, in which Real Madrid halted a run of Barcelona victories. The Belgian, one of the dressing room\u2019s most senior figures, said the team needed to rediscover &#8220;a bit of that fire again from an enemy&#8221; after a difficult previous season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When you\u2019re full of adrenaline you sometimes say things you shouldn\u2019t,&#8221; he admitted. &#8220;But that\u2019s part of a &#8216;Cl\u00e1sico&#8217;. Sometimes you need that atmosphere, and after last year, when we lost four times, we needed that fire. We had to go for them, because they didn\u2019t exactly show us much respect when they were winning either.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yamal, 18, was especially vocal during and after the match, attracting attention both from the pitch and the press. Courtois, however, insisted that none of it has carried over beyond the final whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Carva or Huijsen are with him in the national team, and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s zero problem with Lamine,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These things stay on the pitch. If I saw him in a restaurant tomorrow, I\u2019d say hello. There\u2019s no issue between us.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the tensions of the fixture, Courtois also offered praise for the young forward, who has emerged as one of Barcelona\u2019s brightest talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;For me, he\u2019s a great player who will define an era at Bar\u00e7a,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He spoke a certain way, it added intensity to the match, and the press reacted.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has downplayed any suggestion of lingering tension with Barcelona\u2019s Lamine Yamal following last<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1250,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions\/1250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mktynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}