Thibaut Courtois: Chelsea keeper eyes league & European double
- Published
Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois targets Europe and Premier League glory
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois says Chelsea can win the Premier League and Champions League this season.
Chelsea are four points clear at the top of the Premier League table after nine matches.
They are also top of their Champions League group after three games.
"We have the team to win the Champions League. So hopefully we could win both, but we will see," 22-year-old Belgium international Courtois told Football Focus.
"Obviously we have a very strong team, not only 11 players but a very strong bench.
"We have the quality to reach the Champions League and to win it but there's other strong teams - Bayern, Barcelona, Madrid - so you need a little bit of luck not to play against them before the final.
"The Premier League would be really nice to win. I'd rather have both, but if I had to chose, maybe the Premier League now and another year the Champions League."
Courtois joined Chelsea from Genk in 2011, but spent the next three seasons on loan at Spanish side Atletico Madrid.
Having returned to Stamford Bridge this summer and displaced Petr Cech as first-choice goalkeeper, he signed a new five-year contract in September.
Mourinho on replacing Cech with Courtois | |
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"Ten years ago I had a very difficult decision to make when I had Carlo Cudicini giving fantastic performances in Chelsea's goal for many years and replaced him with Petr Cech. This situation is similar. We have to think about the future of the club and I made a decision to give the goal to Courtois." |
However, Courtois said manager Jose Mourinho never made any promises about replacing 32-year-old Cech.
"He never said clearly to me 'you will be my number one'," Courtois said. "So when I got back I tried to train as good and as hard as I could so that I could earn my spot."
Courtois won the La Liga title with Atletico last season and helped beat his parent club in the Champions League semi-final, before they were beaten by city rivals Real Madrid in the final.
"Even before the games there were rumours that Chelsea didn't want me to play," he said of the semi-final.
"Fifa and Uefa told me that I had to play and I couldn't fake injury or anything - so it was not easy."
Chelsea entertain second-bottom QPR in the Premier League on Saturday.
Watch the full Thibaut Courtois interview on BBC Football Focus on Saturday 1 November at 12:10 GMT on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website.
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