Thibaut Courtois has been speaking ahead of this evening`s Champions League clash with Qarabag. Chelsea travelled to Baku yesterday and interestingly Courtois revealed the team are not changing to Azerbaijan time-zone, preferring to stay on Greenwich mean-time.
With the game kicking-off locally at 9pm, Courtois and the rest of the squad`s minds will be firmly fixed back in the UK. By not changing time-zones for the short stay in Azerbaijan, mentally the team will be better prepared for the trip up to Anfield on Saturday.
Antonio Conte has been keen to point out that the fixture-fixers have not been kind to Chelsea programming their longest trip of the season just 72 hours before they play at Anfield. Liverpool travelled to Spain yesterday and are already back in the UK preparing ahead of the weekends fixture.
Courtois is expecting to face a different team to the one that played at Stamford Bridge in their first ever Champions League game, losing 6-0 to the Blues.
‘They have changed a bit their tactics, they defend better, they have good strikers, and they are fast on the counter. I think they will give us the ball and try to make us make a mistake.`
‘We are the favourites to win,’ added Courtois. ‘Our objective is to qualify tomorrow, so that means we have to win. For us it`s important to start very strong, to try to score early to put the pressure on them, and then hopefully we can have a good game and take the three points back to London.`
Speaking with the written media Courtois has said his contract talks are on hold at the moment, as prefers to focus on the upcoming games Chelsea have. That creates the assumption that he`s off to Real Madrid, but to be fair to him, he still has 18 months to go on his current deal and there is still time for him to re-sign.
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