REAL MADRID HAVE denied Thibaut Courtois has an anxiety problem after the goalkeeper’s surprising substitution against Club Brugge this week.

Courtois conceded twice in the first half at Santiago Bernabeu as Madrid struggled against the Belgian side in the Champions League.

The Belgium international did not emerge for the second half, with Alphonse Areola sent on in his place, and Madrid came back to draw 2-2.

Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Courtois “wasn’t well and couldn’t continue” in the aftermath of Tuesday’s Group A game.

But after local media reported Courtois has been affected by anxiety, Madrid hit back on Friday with a strong rebuttal in an official statement.

The club said: “In relation to certain information about our player Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid wants to state the following:

“1. That our player has never been diagnosed with an alleged anxiety problem and therefore, that information is absolutely false.

“2. That Thibaut Courtois has been diagnosed and treated for acute gastroenteritis with dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, which made it impossible to complete last Tuesday’s game against Bruges.

“3. The player currently responds favourably to the treatment.”

Alphonse Areola is expected to keep goal for Zidane’s men at the weekend, when they play host to Granada in a Liga fixture that pits the current top two sides in the Spanish league against each other.

It will be the Frenchman’s second start for Madrid since moving to the club on loan during the summer in a move that effectively saw fan-favourite Keylor Navas switch to Parc des Princes.

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