Los Blancos lost 1-0 to Barcelona in Las Vegas

Thibaut Courtois during El Clasico.ÁNGEL RIVERO / MARCA

hibaut Courtois has made clear that the result in the pre-season Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid will not affect the Los Blancos players.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men lost 1-0 to Barcelona in a pre-season friendly duel that took place in Las Vegas on Sunday, with this being Real Madrid’s first game of the summer.

“Obviously you can’t draw too many conclusions,” Courtois said.

“Some have been training for two weeks and others have only been training for one week.

“The most important thing is to get into a rhythm, to start with a good intensity, which in other years we didn’t have.

“For a first game, it was good. The only thing is that we didn’t have a goal and they scored a great goal.

“We hit the crossbar and they had one that went into the top corner.

“In pre-season, the result doesn’t count.

“I remember when we lost 7-3 against Atletico Madrid and then we beat them twice and won the league that season.

“The results now don’t say much. Obviously, we’d prefer to win, especially in front of the fans in the United States, but it’s the first game and we had to get into a rhythm.

“We don’t like the defeat but we shouldn’t take it too dramatically.”

Courtois discusses Hazard’s role

Eden Hazard has yet to live up to expectations at Real Madrid, but Courtois is confident that his compatriot can bring a lot to Los Blancos this year.

“It depends on where the coach puts him,” Courtois added.

“In Belgium he plays in 3-4-3 and as an inside player, not as a striker. So, it depends.

“He’s doing very well. He’s only been training for a week, but I’m sure he can bring a lot to the team.

“We’ll have to see when Karim [Benzema] comes back how we can put the team together with Eden.

“These are questions for the coach.

“His injuries are in the past. The other day [Antonio] Rudiger kicked him [in training] and he got up [laughs]”.