Thibaut Courtois is confident that Chelsea are coming into form at just the right time as they prepare to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, as reported by The Guardian.
Following a shock defeat at home to Burnley on the opening day of the Premier League season, the Blues have won six of their past seven games in all competitions.
A hat-trick from Álvaro Morata led them to a comfortable 4-0 win over Stoke this Saturday, and Courtois believes the result bodes well for the future.
Stoke away is a hard game and last year we only won in the last minutes. This year Arsenal lost here. United struggled at 2-2, so to win by four is pleasing.
Chelsea now face a tough week, with an away match against Atletico followed by a visit from the league leaders Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
It will be interesting for us. We have started this difficult week well with a good victory against Stoke and hopefully Wednesday and Saturday we will carry this good form on. The top teams are doing well this season and we are happy to be close to the top. If we want to close that gap we need to try and win next week.
Courtois is looking forward to returning to Atletico, a club where he spent three seasons on loan between 2011 and 2014. He has fond memories of his time in Madrid, which included a La Liga title win and an appearance in the Champions League final.
However, he will be returning to an unfamiliar stadium as Atletico have moved into their new home, the 68,000 seater Wanda Metropolitano.
I remember being at the presentation of the new stadium when they first revealed it. I went there to see the place when there was only one stand – the old one – and they were doing the groundwork. It will be nice to see it.
Atletico christened the stadium with a tight 1-0 victory over Malaga nine days ago courtesy of an Antoine Griezmann goal. Their new home is an impressive one, but time will tell if it can match the ferocious atmosphere generated in their old home the Vicente Calderón.
Diego Costa’s return to Atletico Madrid gives the match a fascinating sub-plot, but the ex-Chelsea striker will not be eligible for this week’s game due to the La Liga side’s ban on registering new players before January.
Atletico will head into Wednesday’s clash high on confidence after a 2-0 win over Sevilla on Saturday. Two draws in their first three league games were frustrating but three wins in a row have propelled them to second in the table, behind league leaders Barcelona but ahead of their city rivals Real Madrid.
