For bragging rights & points

Thibaut Courtois left Chelsea on bad terms last summer and he expects to feel the anger from Atletico Madrid too when he faces them in the white of Real Madrid on Saturday. Courtois developed into one of the world’s finest goalkeepers during three years on loan at Atletico but he will be up against his former club, and Chelsea team-mate Alvaro Morata, in what could prove a pivotal city derby this weekend.

Real arrive on the back of four La Liga wins on the bounce and will jump above their opponents with a win at the Wanda Metropolitano. Atletico have fallen six points adrift of Barcelona and are attempting to stay in touch. For Courtois, a reunion with Diego Simeone’s side is not new — he faced them twice for Chelsea in the Champions League last season and again at the Santiago Bernabeu in September — but this will be his first experience in front of the Atletico fans, in the colours of Real Madrid. “It happens in football, it’s a derby and a derby here in Madrid is always heated,” Courtois said.

“They’ll whistle and shout, everything you would expect, it’s part of football. I will always respect them. Now I’m playing for the other side.” Courtois helped Atletico crack the duopoloy of Barca and Real by winning La Liga in 2014, while also lifting the Europa League, Copa del Rey and Super Cup during his time at the club. “There are still a lot of players that I know there, the goalkeeping coach, coaches, they’re all still the same,” Courtois said.


“It’s still a special match, I respect the fans and the club a lot, in the end they gave me the opportunity to play when I was just 19 years old. I only have good memories.”

Courtois’ season has taken a similar trajectory to his team’s. There was a shakey start, when Julen Lopetegui rotated him with Keylor Navas, before a clear improvement, with Courtois now established as Santiago Solari’s first choice.

Madrid have steadily gained momentum under Solari too and, despite a dip at the start of the year, have found their rhythm in recent weeks. “I feel good now. It takes a little time to settle and to fully understand the team but it’s going very w e l l now,” Courtois said. “If we want to narrow the gap and win trophies, this is the month when we have to be at our best.”

SPOTLIGHT ON ‘MENTALLY FRAGILE’ MORATA
Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata will be the focal point of Saturday’s Spanish capital derby as he makes his home debut against neighbours Real Madrid, where he began an eventful career which has never truly taken off.

Morata has made only 85 top-flight starts in eight years since his professional debut, scoring 56 league goals in a stop-start journey which has taken him from Real to Juventus, back to Real and then to Chelsea, joining Atletico on loan last month.

Morata has been tasked with sharing the goalscoring burden with Antoine Griezmann to strengthen Atletico’s title battle with La Liga leaders Barcelona, but he got off to a miserable start with last week’s 1-0 defeat at Real Betis. Spain international Morata struggled to combine with Griezmann and offered little threat as his side slumped to a first league defeat in five months, falling six points behind Barca who visit Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. Atletico have also ceded ground to Real, who have won their last four league fixtures and will leapfrog their neighbours should they come out winners in the derby.

The game is not just a chance for Morata to prove a point to his former employers, who sold him to Juventus in 2014 for 18 million euros then brought him back to Spain for 36 million, only to of fload him to Chelsea for 80 million a year later. He also needs to win over Atletico fans who seem reluctant to embrace him due to his years with Real, with some chanting their disapproval about his signing in their last home fixture. Morata also has work to do to convince the world of his talents after a difficult final months at Chelsea, where coach Maurizio Sarri claimed he was “mentally fragile” and assistant Gianfranco Zola said he had to remind the striker that he was representing Chelsea, not Brighton or Southampton.

Questions about Morata’s mentality also cropped up at Juventus, with Gianluigi Buffon saying he once told the striker “if he stopped feeling sorry for himself he could be a match winner”.

It will be fascinating to see how Atletico coach Diego Simeone, regarded as a macho, uncompromising figure, attempts to restore Morata’s confidence.

Whether or not the Argentine can get the striker firing again will determine whether Atletico can overhaul Barca and a resurgent Real in the title race.