Real Madrid goalkeeper returns to old club with aim to break Chelsea hearts as Spanish champs attempt to reach their fifth final in eight years, following 1-1 draw in semi-final first leg
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Pic/Getty Images
When Thibaut Courtois was sold by Chelsea to Real Madrid in 2018, there was little affection for one of the world’s best goalkeepers from either the club he was joining or the one he had just left.
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Courtois’ relationship with the Chelsea fans had soured after he pushed the move through by refusing to report for pre-season training and rejecting an offer of talks with then-coach Maurizio Sarri.
Frosty welcome
Once at Madrid, he rubbed salt into the wounds, remarking on the difference in quality in training with his new team and expressing hope that Eden Hazard, Chelsea’s star player, would soon be there to join him. The welcome, though, was not much warmer than the farewell, Courtois arriving at a club whose goalkeeper was perhaps the most popular player with the fans, having just been key to three consecutive Champions League titles.
“You can tell everyone loud and clear, I have as much enthusiasm for leaving Madrid as I do for dying,” Keylor Navas said, shortly after Courtois’ arrival.
Navas did leave, eventually persuaded to join PSG a year later, but his departure served only to deepen the distrust of Courtois, whose nadir came in a Champions League game against Club Brugge, when he was taken off at half-time having been whistled by his own supporters. A month before, supporters of Atletico Madrid had even marked the city derby by throwing toy rats at the opposition goal, angered by their former goalkeeper’s decision to join their rivals.
Empty stands might help
In some ways, Courtois might be relieved the stands will be empty at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, when Real Madrid will attempt to reach their fifth Champions League final in eight years, after a 1-1 draw in last week’s opening leg.
The reception would have been much frostier than the one given to Hazard, whose exit to Madrid was more accepted as Hazard’s best days continue to be the ones he enjoyed in a Chelsea shirt.
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