{
  "id": 2981464,
  "title": "Courtois on Rodri choosing Barcelona over Real Madrid: “It’s a pity for him”",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/courtois-on-rodri-choosing-barcelona-over-real-madrid-its-a-pity-for",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-24T08:39:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/courtois-rodri-choosing-barcelona-over-083931794.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid's goalkeeper, expressed his disappointment when asked about Rodri Hernández's decision to join FC Barcelona instead of Los Blancos this summer. Courtois, speaking to the press following Madrid's win against Espanyol, stated, \"Every player chooses where they want to be. If he hasn't wanted to be with us, well, that's a pity for him. After all, he's a great player, but he's made his choice and that's that.\"\n\nThe Belgian goalkeeper also addressed Espanyol's tweet questioning why Vinicius wasn't shown a second yellow card late in the match. Courtois remarked, \"I'd love to see all the tweets teams send against us when they play other teams. If we're discussing this rule, Cala should've been sent off earlier; the kick to the back, the yellow card for Vinicius, and the first foul in the second half on Carreras - if he hadn't had a yellow, the referee would have definitely given him another one. First, you need to look in the mirror and examine what's happening in a game with your players.\"",
  "summary": "Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois didn’t mince words when asked about Rodri Hernández deciding to sign for FC Barcelona over Los Blancos this summer. Courtois talked to the press immediately after Madrid’s victory over Espanyol. “Every player chooses where they want to be. If he hasn’t wanted to be with us, well, that’s a pity […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "Real Madrid’s transfer window not over yet as club remain alert for late surprise",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/real-madrids-transfer-window-not-over-yet-as-club-remain-alert-for",
        "published": "2026-08-24T06:20:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}