UCL:Thibaut Courtois faces Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois is delighted to have been
cleared to face parent club Chelsea in the
Champions League semi-finals.
The goalkeeper has been in outstanding form
for Atletico Madrid this season, but he feared
he would miss out on the biggest occasion of
his career when the Spaniards drew Chelsea
in the last four.
Reports suggested that the 21-year-old, who
has been on loan with Atletico for the last
three seasons, would be given permission to
play if the La Liga leaders paid Chelsea a
substantial fee.
But the speculation has been dismissed by
UEFA, who cleared Courtois to feature without
the need for any money to change hands.
"I was very relieved," Courtois told the FIFA
website. "For me, the fact that we've drawn
Chelsea, like we did in the European Super
Cup in 2012, is special, because even though
I'm at Atleti, Chelsea are my club too.
"It's better not to think about it too much
though and play like I always do, because if I
start thinking, 'Oh, I'd better be careful', then
I'll end up playing poorly.
"I want to win trophies here and I'll be an
Atleti supporter for these two games, but at all
other times I'm a Chelsea fan too.
"I hope they win the Premier League, just not
these two Champions League matches. I
really hope we can reach the final as we're so
close. They're the favourites, but Barcelona
were too."
The first leg of the tie will be played in Madrid
on Tuesday, with the return at Stamford Bridge
next week.
Courtois has already lifted the Europa League,
UEFA Super Cup and Copa del Rey in his three
seasons on loan in Madrid, and admits he
never expected so much success when he first
made the move.
"I didn't expect it, no," he added. "I remember
playing my first game in the Belgian league
just before turning 17 and dreaming of having
a good career over there, but I didn't imagine
playing for a big club or winning trophies like
these.
"And now we're not far away from the most
important one of them all, the Champions
League.
"We've got the Liga title close too which,
because of Barcelona and Real Madrid, you
never think you'll get the chance to win.
"They've got better individuals but we're a
very good team and that's important, because
you don't need to rely on any one player to
win the championship.
"It's going to be hard to repeat all this though.
We're having a huge season and, now we've
got this far, we've got to try and take
advantage.
"It'll be tough to take if it ends without us
winning anything, but it won't be for lack of
trying."