Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has revealed that he studied Josip Juranovic's penalty kicks before denying the Celtic star in the Spanish capital.
Goals from Luka Modric and Rodrygo - both from the spot - saw the hosts take the lead in what was considered a damp squib from the Hoops' behalf, with Ange Postecoglou 's men unable to finish anywhere but fourth in Champions League Group F at the start of play. However, they were offered a chance to reprieve themselves when Liel Abada was fouled by Ferland Mendy just after the half-hour mark.
Juranovic stepped up, but his blasted effort to Courtois' right was thwarted by the big Belgian, much to the delight of the home support. That gave Real the platform to score five, with Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde getting themselves on the scoresheet before Jota scored a superb free-kick to give the away support something to cheer about. And though Courtois was annoyed with himself for being unable to save the Portugal star's effort from distance, he admitted he had studied Juranovic's efforts which ultimately paid dividends.
Courtois said: "Our goalkeeping coach Luis Llopis didn't tell me anything about the Celtic penalty taker, I studied him myself. I had watched Josip Juranovic take penalties in Europe to the right and in Scotland to the left.
"So that wasn't much help, but my intuition was that he would hit it to the right so I threw myself there and was able to stop it. I am a little annoyed about conceding the goal from the free kick because I got a hand to it, but it wasn't enough to keep it out.
"But it was a very good game for us. We scored five goals and had a lot of chances. Personally, little by little I'm getting back to my best after a spell out where I wasn't able to train because of a back injury. Matches like this help me."
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