Courtois relishes chance

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."