Atletico Madrid news

Courtois relishing Chelsea reunion

21-04-2014

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On-loan goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has suggested Atletico Madrid will not fear "favourites" Chelsea when the clubs meet in the Champions League semi-finals.

The La Liga leaders host Jose Mourinho's men at Vicente Calderon in the first leg of the last four of Europe's premier club competition on Tuesday.

The mouth-watering clash takes on extra significance for Courtois because it means he will face his parent club for the second time since moving to the Spanish capital temporarily from west London three years ago.

Diego Simeone's men beat Chelsea 4-1 in the 2012 Uefa Super Cup but the highly-rated goalkeeper said it was essential he kept his focus on the job in hand.

"For me, the fact that we’ve drawn Chelsea, like we did in the European Super Cup, is special because even though I'm at Atleti, Chelsea are my club too," Courtois told FIFA.com.

"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."

Courtois said he hoped Atletico could achieve their dream of reaching the final of the competition for the first time since 1974 but admitted it will be difficult.

He added: "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 [Chelsea], but [beaten quarter-final opponents] Barca [Barcelona] were too."

Atletico Madrid are currently priced 1.90 in the match betting and the draw is quoted 3.30. The Chelsea away victory is available to back at 5.00.

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