Thibaut Courtois was in frank mood again in the mixed zone. Speaking after Real Madrid's hard-fought 2-1 win over Espanyol on Saturday in the second round of La Liga, the Belgian goalkeeper hailed the matchwinner Carlos Espi, the man he calls "the little Joselu".
Courtois also turned to Rodri, the recent Barcelona signing who looked set for a move to Real Madrid before choosing to join their fiercest rivals instead.
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In remarks reported by the Catalan newspaper"Mundo Deportivo", Courtois said: "Every player chooses where he wants to be. If he (Rodri) did not want to be with us, then that is a shame for him. In the end he is a great player, but he made his choice, and that's the end of it."
Rodri and Cancelo happened to be staying in the same hotel as the Real Madrid squad. Courtois shrugged it off: "They were in our hotel? Well, the hotel is big, there will be a lot of people."
The keeper reserved warm words for Espi, who came off the bench in the 80th minute. "He is a monster, sometimes I see him getting into battles with Konate and Rudiger during training. It is really impressive, we are very happy for him. The impact of the player coming off the bench can be just as strong as the impact of the players who start the match."
He then joked about Espi: "I call him Joselu Junior (the little Joselu)", a nod to the former Real Madrid striker famed for his decisive contributions off the bench.
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