Courtois: Real Madrid number one ready for Chelsea return
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is confident going into the Champions League quarter-final clash against his former side Chelsea.
Carlo Ancelotti is unlikely to be in the dugout at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, as Real Madrid take on Chelsea.
Madrid netminder Thibaut Courtois does not think there will be a problem, despite the potential absence of the Italian head coach in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Ancelotti tested positive for covid-19 last week, and missed his side’s 2-1 victory away to Celta Vigo on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Ancelotti was still testing positive, which prevented him from travelling to London with the rest of his staff and squad. The Madrid boss could still travel if he tests negative on Wednesday.
In his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Courtois said: “Luckily, his assistant is his son, so it’s quite similar!
“But, there’s a complete and good staff there, and it has been possible to have a video call with him.
“As for his absence from the dugout, I think the coaching staff did very well in Vigo and I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem here.”
Confident Courtois
In last season’s edition of the Champions League, Chelsea knocked Madrid out in the semi-finals before they went on to lift the trophy.
The second leg this time around will take place at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu, and Courtois is confident that Madrid can go through to the semi-finals.
Real Madrid beat PSG in last 16
Los Blancos came back at home to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 at the Bernabéu thanks to Karim Benzema’s hat-trick.
“It’s a new season,” Courtois continued. “Last season was different since it was semi-finals and later in the season, there were no fans then, and it was the second leg that we played away.
“We saw in the last round how we pulled off a comeback at the Bernabeu. We want to bring this tie back to the Bernabeu, too.
“The [scrapping of the] away goal rule changes it a little. We saw that in the last round when the 2-1 turnaround had already earned us at least extra time, even though we won 3-1 anyway.
“Before, we’d have known that we needed three goals. I think that’s a good rule change.”