Real Madrid star Thibaut Courtois has confirmed that Lamie Yamal’s pre-match comments ahead of El Clasico spurred Los Blancos on to victory. A four-game losing streak was snapped by Real Madrid against Barcelona, and the consensus appears to be that Lamine Yamal’s statements backfired.

Speaking to Cadena Cope in an interview, Courtois confirmed that the injury that kept him out of international duty with Belgium was not serious, and he would be available against Elche this weekend. He also gave a defence of Xabi Alonso, denying that there were issues in the Real Madrid dressing room.

Lamine Yamal has been working with two recovery specialists for a week and yesterday he was already training with the squad. His priority is to overcome pubalgia and arrive at the Chelsea game in peak condition. @martinezferran

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 20, 2025

‘We needed a little spark’ – Courtois on Lamine Yamal comments

Before El Clasico, Lamine Yamal commented while on a live stream that ‘Real Madrid rob, complain and do things’ in order to win games causing a major backlash from the Madrid press. Courtois explained that it helped fire Real Madrid up.

“Lamine is a great player, he’ll define an era, but he stirred things up and the press pounced on him. When emotions are running high, we say things we don’t need to, but that’s how El Clasico is. After losing four times last year, we needed a little spark to go after them. Lamine’s comments motivated us. When they beat us, they didn’t respect us either. If I see Lamine in a restaurant, I’ll say hello,” Courtois explained to Cope.

Differences between Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe

Later on in the interview, Courtois was asked about the comparison between Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Frenchman reached 400 career goals last week, and did so at a faster pace than either Lionel Messi or Ronaldo.

“I haven’t been able to train with Cristiano. They are two different players. Cristiano has an even stronger winning mentality than Mbappe. This year Mbappe has taken a step back [from it all]. Last year he was looking for his place in the team, and this year he’s just getting started. Mbappe is a leader, and that will become more and more apparent in every match.”