Thibaut Courtois kept clean sheets at Anfield for the first time in his career last night, and it was more than enough to see Real Madrid progress past Liverpool and into the Champions League semi-finals, where they will face another Premier League team, and one a little closer to Courtois’ cold, scaly heart.
In two weeks, Chelsea will travel to Spain for the first match of the semi-finals, in a ‘special’ match and not just because a place in the final will be at stake.
‘This is a special match against my former club. Since [Thomas] Tuchel came in, they played 3-5-2, 3-4-3 and it’s going well, and they did not concede many goals. It’s going to be a tough game, but I hope we can get through it. ”
-Thibaut Courtois; source: SBS
The second shift will take place a week later at Stamford Bridge, a place Courtois named for four years, before burning his bridges and forcing a move to Real Madrid. Such transitions are often transitions … eventually. In this case, we are probably not there yet.
‘It’s going to be a lot of fun to see a lot of famous faces and I wish there was a crowd at Stamford Bridge, because there were a lot of happy moments I had there, even though my departure might not have been in the best way, or so stated, that it was not the best way, but I have only good memories. Two Premier League, a bunch of other trophies, I’m very happy to play it, but only one can be in the final and I hope it’s Real Madrid. ”
-Thibaut Courtois; source: beIN Sports via Football.London
By the way, before winning all those trophies with Chelsea, Courtois was a big contribution to beating Chelsea at this exact stage, with another Madrid team, at the exact stage from 2013-14. His saves in the second innings inspired Atlético’s surprise 3-1 victory on the bridge note, Thibaut was loaned to Chelsea from Atlético at the time!
Definitely a bad history with the Blues for the 28-year-old. Hopefully he is on the losing side of this next chapter.
(PS: Apparently, fellow former Blue, Eden Hazard, can also perform, having recently been back in full training after his latest ankle injury, contrary to initial expectations.)