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| *Jose |
Friday's semi-final draw pitted Jose Mourinho's men against
the Primera Division leaders, who knocked out Barcelona in the quarter-finals. Real Madrid
will face Bayern Munich in the other semi-final, with the first legs taking
place on April 22/23 and the return the following week. The draw sets up an intriguing situation with goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois - the 21-year-old goalkeeper on loan with Atletico from Chelsea.
It was reported that Chelsea
would allow the Spanish side to play the Belgian in both legs of the semi,
provided they paid a fee of around 3million euros for each game.
However, UEFA moved to clarify that it expects the Belgium
international to be free to face the Blues in both legs.
Real, who booked their place in the last four with a win over
Dortmund, have won European club football's top prize nine times - but
not since 2002.Chelsea will play the first leg in the Spanish capital as they seek to book a place in this season's final in Lisbon. On Courtois, chief executive Ron Gourlay said: "The loan was arranged at the start of the season. He could play against Chelsea - that was never in doubt.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid's former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti was looking forward to his team's clash against the defending champions.
Ancelotti, whose side lost their quarter-final second leg 2-0 to Dortmund on Tuesday but went through 3-2 on aggregate, told a press conference: "Yes, we were poor against Dortmund but it doesn't matter because we made it through.
"If we want to win the Champions League we then have to beat everyone, including Bayern.
"The games will be very difficult...but it's not easy for anyone to play Real Madrid either."
The match will see former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola return to Spain and Ancelotti added: "He is one of the best coaches in the world. They have a great team."
- First legs to be played April 22/23, second legs to be played April 29/30
- The final will be played on Saturday May 24 in Lisbon
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