Belgian international Thibaut Courtois, the first-team goalkeeper of Real Madrid, spoke about the Ballon d'Or, Manchester City's crisis, the Negreira case, and many other matters.
Real Madrid continues its preparations to complete its season following the defeat against Atletico Madrid in the Spanish La Liga, losing 2-1.
Courtois said in an interview reported by the Spanish newspaper "Marca": "Refereeing? I don't think there is any manipulation or anything like that; I am not that suspicious."
He added: "There are fouls called on other pitches but they do not call them in our favor; rather, they call them against us. In the year of the coronavirus pandemic, when we lost the league title, four handballs were called. Atletico used VAR for one of these handballs, then a penalty was awarded against us."
He continued: "There are things that make you say 'I don't understand.' They come to explain things to us, then the following week they do exactly the opposite."
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Regarding the Negreira case, he stated: "Everyone is waiting for the verdict in the Negreira case; it is a serious issue."
On the Ballon d'Or award: "It must go to Mbappé. Everyone is impressed by his speed and goals. The Ballon d'Or should be awarded to the best player, not to whoever won more titles than others. If we applied the same logic, Carvajal should have won it two years ago."
On rivals: "I am very impressed with Raphinha; he is a very important player for his team and scores many goals. Perhaps he does not receive the recognition he deserves. We need to stop him during the month."
Regarding the sanction imposed on City: "What City ultimately did was spoil the competition. Perhaps they would not have been able to sign some players they had."
He went on: "My son plays for Real Madrid's youth team as a striker. He resembles Mbappé quite a lot. He also likes playing as a goalkeeper, but I prefer that he doesn't, to avoid comparisons."
He concluded: "There are parents who believe their son is the new Cristiano and pressure him so heavily that some children quit football at sixteen. Boys should enjoy their time on the pitch."