Wednesday, 13th August, 2014
Jose Mourinho has revealed that he will tell Thibaut Courtois and Petr Cech on Sunday who will start in Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Burnley the following day.
Courtois, who returned to Chelsea this summer following his successful three-year loan stint at Atletico Madrid, played the full 90 minutes of the Blues’ final pre-season game against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge last night, a match the hosts won 2-0.
It was the Belgian international’s second appearance for Chelsea, having played a half in his side’s 3-0 loss to Werder Bremen earlier in the month.
On the other hand, Cech featured more regularly for the Stamford Bridge outfit during their pre-season campaign.
However, Mourinho refused to acknowledge that Courtois is his first choice for the game against Burnley, despite the youngster playing the full game of Chelsea’s final pre-season fixture.
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“I played Thibaut for 90 minutes because he was injured and didn’t play last weekend”, the manager told the club’s official site.
“Petr played two matches in Turkey and the first half against Ferencvaros. Since he arrived Courtois has only played 45 minutes against Werder Bremen, he needs to play.
“The fact Courtois played 90 minutes wasn’t me saying he’s first choice for Monday, it’s because he didn’t play the last three matches.
“The players don’t know [who’s first choice]. When will I tell them? On Sunday.”
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