Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois urged calm after their 2-1 defeat at Villarreal.

Courtois assessed the performance at the Estadio de la Cerámica.

He said, “We have to stay calm. It's a tough defeat but we're only halfway through the season. We didn't start very well, we lost the ball a lot and let them come into the game. We got to the break at 0-0, with the odd counter and chance we created, but we couldn't finish.

“We started the second half even worse. I don't know if I got enough on it to turn it onto the post and Mendy was just behind me and took it into the net. You get back into the game from the spot and then minutes later they give another penalty against us for a handball that never was. Handball is so subjective, it's tough to take."

On David Alaba's handball, Courtois continued: “I didn't speak to the referee but I saw last week's at Valladolid, which hit his free hand. Today, the one gets given against David, who has one hand still on the ground, because he slipped and was trying to get up. He falls, even if it's his supporting hand, he can't get his hands out the way.

“We've never seen an example like this. Let's see if they come back and talk to us again in the summer. They can take this as an example and explain it to us. If you give them a penalty that's a little bit contentious as well, because he can't see the ball, then you have to give this one. It's a bit of a case of compensating. Then we weren't able to stay calm enough to see the game out.

“The season is very long and there are a lot of games ahead of us. Even if we had won today and Barcelona lose, it's a three-point cushion. That's nothing in football nowadays. We didn't want to lose and we wanted to start the year in LaLiga by winning. We knew they were a difficult team, a ground where we haven't won lately and we'll be back very soon in the Copa."