Chelsea have been drawn against
Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, while Real
Madrid meet holders Bayern Munich.
Jose Mourinho's side will face the
Spanish league leaders at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in the opening game
before playing Diego Simeone's side at Stamford Bridge.
The draw has thrown up an intriguing
talking point, with Chelsea reportedly wanting Atletico to pay them in order
for on-loan Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to feature in the tie.
UEFA have released a statement
insisting the Belgium international should be free to play in both matches and
Chelsea CEO Ron Gourlay confirmed that would be the case, although he did not
specify whether a fee would neeed to be agreed first.
"They're all fantastic sides.
The important thing to us was to make sure we were in the semi-final," Ron
Gourlay told Sky Sports News when asked about the tie itself.
"We need to make sure we are
totally prepared for these games. I'm sure Jose will make sure we are but we
have some important games before that.
"We have ambitions at this
football club and we are evolving all the time. We would like to win back the
Premiership and we would like to win the Champions League.
"It will be a fantastic game.
It doesn't matter who we play at this stage.
"We will be looking forward to
it and for the team that comes through, there is a nice trip to Lisbon as well.
"The key here is that we
continue building for the future and we are heading in the right direction.
"We've reached this competition
many times in the past 10 years and we are up there competing. We can look
forward to the next few weeks and see where we end up."
Mourinho avoided a meeting with
former club Real Madrid, who will go up against defending champions Bayern
Munich.
That tie sees former Barcelona
manager Pep Guardiola, now in charge at Bayern, take on old rivals Real.
Champions
League semi-final draw
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Despite reservations over two sets
of visiting fans being in the same city together, UEFA has given the go-ahead
for Atletico to play Chelsea on April 22 with Real taking on Bayern the
following evening.
Chelsea will host Atletico in the
second leg at Stamford Bridge on April 30, 24 hours after Real take on Bayern
at the Allianz Arena.
The final will take place at the
Estadio da Luz in Lisbon on Saturday 24 May.
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