Thibaut Courtois doesn't believe the exit of Keylor Navas has affected him at Real Madrid, although he's happy there's no more debate over the goalkeeping position.
Do you miss Boxing Day football in England? You're on holiday now.
No, the truth is no. Christmas time is better like this. It gives you a bit of a break, it breaks up the season and it's good. Then we have the Supercopa in Saudi Arabia, which also gives us a bit of an escape from the routine. It's good because everyone will come back with lots of energy to confront what's to come.
Are you excited about this new Supercopa?
Man, the format can be great and neat to change it a bit. Now, it's cool with the final four, although we've got to get used to the fact that it's being played outside of Spain.
Did you go on holiday happy?
Yes, well, you can always go better, but yes.
You had a bit of a rough start to the season, or with more doubts, and you've risen to the situation in recent matches: you're calmer and you've even given an assist.
I think that, at the start, in matches like the one against Celta [Vigo], we made good actions. I remember two important saves when we had 10 men, when we won the game. There wasn't too much of a problem in the league, but maybe the problem was in the match in Paris. The noise increased, but I always stayed calm because I know how I train and the day to day routine is good. I was sure that things would turn out fine in the end. Now I'm happy but not relaxed because I want to fight to win the league, the Champions League, the Copa [del Rey]...
You always speak with more conviction when talking about the team rather than your individual performance.
Sure, we're a team. Everyone does their bit. Alone, I can't do anything, neither can Karim [Benzema], nor Sergio [Ramos]. We're all 100 percent invested. I saw some people saying that we were celebrating against Valencia like we'd won a trophy and no, but it's because everyone was so invested that you could see the hunger we all had there and the commitment.
You told MARCA that to play for Real Madrid, you had to be prepared for criticism like you got at the start of the season. It seems like, from that point, things went better. Do you feel a bit more liberated after that point?
Well, I remember feeling very good after two saves against Galatasaray away. I fell to the ground and I felt the confidence and position in goal again. Roberto Martinez said it as well. I personally didn't take note of it because I always think I do everything the same, but this match helped me and from then on, I got more clean sheets and kept improving.
Who are your best friends in the dressing room?
Well I get on better with the young players like Fede [Valverde], Brahim, before with [Sergio] Reguilon, I have Casemiro next to me and I speak to him a lot, also with Isco and Eden [Hazard]. They're who I spend the most time with. In the end, I'm an easy person to get on with and with my languages.
After the Champions League finishes, Euro 2020 comes. Belgium are looking very strong.
We're first in the FIFA rankings, but ok, we won our matches but we've not had any tough games. We're favourites but France, Germany, England, Spain look good.
Is there anyone in particular that you fear?
No. I'm not scared of anyone. I know that we're favourites, but we have to go there and play.
The same thing is happening with Belgium as it did with Spain some years ago: you have an amazing team but you're just missing a trophy.
Well, we did very well at the World Cup. There was a team that was better than us on the day, but we can't say anything. We've gone through this psychological barrier, but it's the day, the moment... if the ball doesn't want to go in, it doesn't go in.
Who is the strongest team in the Champions League right now?
Well, you look at Liverpool doing really well in the Premier League and then they have problems in Europe. Now, we're going to play against [Manchester] City, which is at the end of February and lots of things can change [before then], even though they're having a hard time now. It's difficult to predict anything. Liverpool, City, Barcelona, Atletico...
You know what this match means, don't you? Pep Guardiola at the Bernabeu. It's not a Clasico, but almost...
Yes, although I think it's more of a rivalry for the fans. For the players, we're more focused on the match and focused on making the players happy. It's clear that Guardiola is a great coach and his past in this stadium will be remembered.
How is Hazard?
He's a bit better now. He was a bit... well, I wouldn't say he was sad, but he wasn't feeling very good on the pitch and the link-up with Karim was great. They were linking up well in each game and we were able to cause a lot of harm with him in these games like we've lacked goals [without him]. Now he's really excited to return, he's doing more now and I don't know when he'll be back, this is down to his recovery.
But emotionally... he looks beyond these adaptations to the club and everything. He looked well from the start.
I think he's fine in this aspect. It can always be a bit difficult in the first few months but spending time with me and the French speakers and also the Spaniards, who have welcomed him well. Eden has huge quality. Bit by bit, he's getting on with everyone. He spent lots of time at Chelsea getting used to [playing with N'Golo] Kante, for example, and now he's had to get used to [playing with] other players, like Casemiro. And they're getting to know each other and anticipating each other.
How good is it to know that you have people like Casemiro and Kante behind you. He must love them!
Yes, yes. Nowadays, there's a lack of centre-midfielders like them in football. Almost nothing gets past them and they're a wall. They're important for the balance of the team and they let the full-backs attack more because they know that one of them is covering them.
The Bernabeu is being patient with Eden. There's still a buzz around him in a stadium where very few people are free from whistles.
It's normal because he's a player that excites. Furthermore, with him, you can't just look at his goals and assists. If you don't score 20 goals it seems like it's not good, but he allows other teammates to score more. Even though he's not making the assist, but he makes two dribbles that creates a move that ends in a goal. He creates danger and gives the feeling that he can do something at any moment, and this is what other teams fear.
What remains of the Atletico Madrid Courtois?
A big part of the goalkeeper I am today is thanks to my time at Atletico. The decision I took at Genk to go to Atletico was the best I could take. And I had a lot of pressure on me, but I felt I'd hit the roof there and I wanted to improve. I wanted to go to a place that put more demands on me and I think that I grew a lot as a goalkeeper and as a person. I lived in another country, without speaking the language, and now I'm almost Spanish.
You're at the perfect age for a goalkeeper. Do you want to spend many seasons at Real Madrid?
Yes. Look: I used to love Iker [Casillas] as a kid. I had a family friend that went to the Bernabeu a lot and he brought a shirt, I had a Bernabeu banner on my wall. I want to make history and win lots of trophies here and therefore I feel like a Madridista, which is what I am. And I show this on the pitch, like I showed at Valencia.
Would you like to be captain one day?
Man, it would be great if I was one day, but I don't have this character to talk in the dressing room. I expect more, but I'm one of the captains for the national team and it's an honour. It's not one of my goals, but if it happened, it would be great.
Last question: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Jan Oblak and Courtois, with Alisson as well... How do you see current podium of goalkeepers?
We're more or less from the same generation and we're doing very well. Alisson is at a high level. So is [Manuel] Neuer. I love that they're also doing well, even though it's not with us. We respect each other a lot. There are lots of niceties between us.