On-loan goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is unlikely to play for Atletico Madrid against his parent club Chelsea if the two sides are paired together in Friday’s draw for the Uefa Champions League semi-finals.
The 21-year-old Belgium international has been one of the stars of his side’s rise to the top of the Primera Liga this season and was outstanding as Atletico knocked Barcelona out of the competition on Wednesday.
However, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo confirmed there is a clause in the loan contract that means they would have to pay Chelsea “a lot of money” to field Courtois against the London side.
Speaking after Wednesday's 2-1 aggregate win over Barca, Cerezo said: "The problem is whether he can play or not if we come up against Chelsea. It could be that he cannot; the contract is the contract.
“If he is to play we will have to pay a large sum of money.”
Although Cerezo did not specify exactly how much was involved, Spanish media reported it would be around €3 million (Dh15.28m) for each leg.
Courteous joined Chelsea from Belgian side Genk in 2011 but was immediately loaned out to Atletico.
He has now played nearly 150 games for the Spanish side but none for Chelsea and Cerezo added that Atletico were so pleased with the keeper that they wanted him to stay at the Vicente Calderon past this season.
“We are trying to reach an agreement with Chelsea so he can stay with us for one more year,” he said.
If he is prevented from playing, Atletico would have to turn to reserve Dani Aranzubia, 34, who has played just once this season.
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was fined £8,000 (Dh49,300) and warned about his future conduct after being sent to the stands in last month's 1-0 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa. The English Football Association announced his punishment in a statement on its website and said he breached Rule E3 by going on to the field in an attempt to speak to the referee.
Mourinho went on the Villa Park pitch to try to speak to referee Chris Foy after Brazilian midfielder Ramires became the second Chelsea player red-carded in the match following Willian’s earlier dismissal.
The Portuguese denied an improper conduct charge but he lost his case at Wednesday’s personal hearing with an independent regulatory commission. The finding was announced yesterday.
Mourinho claimed all he wanted to do was speak to the referee who refused to speak to him and sent him off from the dugout.
Afterwards Mourinho said Foy should not be allowed to take charge of any more Chelsea matches and continued his complaints for days afterwards saying he “would never accept” Foy’s performance.
Ronaldo could miss Champions League semi-final first leg
Cristiano Ronaldo has sustained a muscle injury in his left thigh, Real Madrid announced on Thursday, making the Portuguese striker a doubt for next week’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.
“Tests which Cristiano Ronaldo underwent have shown up a muscular injury to his left biceps femoris,” Real said, adding that his return to action was dependent on his reaction to rehabilitation.
According to the As newspaper website, Ronaldo could be out for two weeks, which would mean him missing the final in Valencia on Wednesday as well as the Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg match on April 22-23.
Ronaldo, scorer of 28 league goals this season, didn’t play in Real’s 4-0 Primera Liga victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday or Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarter-final, second leg, officially because of a left knee injury.
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