Thibaut Courtois sets ultimate Champions League goal for next season

The 2016-17 season is not quite over just yet and there’s even a massive game coming up in two weeks against Arsenal at Wembley for the FA Cup trophy, but Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is already setting goals for next year. And they are certainly on the ambitious end of things.

“Obviously next year there is a new goal, with the Champions League coming for us. It's been a few years since Chelsea have won it and I missed out on one in the last minute, so a lot of players are hungry to win that as well.”

Courtois and Diego Costa were both part of the Atlético Madrid side that fell just short of ultimate European glory. In fact, while the current Chelsea squad is full of winners, with a total trophy count of well above 30, only Gary Cahill, David Luiz, John Terry, and Cesc Fàbregas have tasted victory from the Cup with the Big Ears, and at least one of those guys is leaving this summer. Should be plenty of motivation for the “New Guard” then.

Winning the Champions League is obviously no mean feat, but one thing is for sure. A repeat of last season must be avoided at all cost.

“We had a bad season [in 2015-16]. We had a lot of critics, everybody in the team, a lot of laughter at us. It's not nice after a season when you won the league. Some of the criticism was deserved, some not, but to bounce back in this way, to be champions again and to have been top a long way, is amazing.”

“They said we didn't want to play any more, that we are lazy, and that's not true. We try to win our games and last year was just a one off, especially for a team like Chelsea with the players we have here. Everybody was hurt in their pride and that's why we wanted to bounce back this season.”

-Thibaut Courtois; source: Chelsea FC

Job certainly done in that regard. Now onto even bigger and better things!