Former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is set to return to Stamford Bridge once again this season as Real Madrid were drawn against the Blues in the Champions League quarter-finals. The ties will take place in mid-April, with the first game at the Santiago Bernabeu and the second leg back in west London.
It's not the first time the two clubs have clashed on the continental stage, having faced one another over the previous two Champions League campaigns. The first went in favour of Chelsea in the 2021 semi-finals, where a huge win saw Thomas Tuchel propel his team to eventual glory in the competition.
Last season's matchup was slightly different, taking place in the quarter-finals as a comeback from the Blues was shot down by an extra-time winner from Karim Benzema. In similar fashion to the year before, the winner of the tie went on to lift the trophy at the end, with Los Blancos defeat Liverpool in Paris a few months later.
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With the matchup this time around, the victor will face off against the winner of Manchester City and Bayern Munich in one of the other quarter-finals. This, as a result, has set up a nightmare scenario for Courtois, who made a claim before the draw that he wished to avoid some teams.
"I would like to change a bit. Last year we already faced City and Chelsea, let’s see if we play other teams this year," the shot-stopper said after victory against Liverpool earlier this week.
"[Erling] Haaland is very good, he is one of the stars of football. Last year we made it clear what character we have in the team, with comebacks, we earn respect, we show that Real Madrid is always there."
It remains to be seen how the ties this time around will play out. However, history will go out of the window when the two sides meet in hopes of making the latter stages of the Champions League.
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