There wasn't too much doubt about what sort of reception Thibaut Courtois would receive on his return to Stamford Bridge last week. The former Chelsea goalkeeper played for the first time in front of supporters at his old stadium as Real Madrid ran away with a 3-1 victory in the first-leg.
The 29-year-old Belgium goalkeeper left Chelsea in the summer of 2018 to join Los Blancos for around £31.5million. The way Courtois pushed for a move away from the club did not please Blues supporters - and some comments he has made about them in the past haven't gone down too well either.
Speaking after just completing a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, Courtois spoke about the difference in quality between his former team and new side. He said: "In training, you see the the level at Real Madrid is high.
"I am now experiencing on a daily basis that [Sergio] Ramos is the best centre-back in the world. The level at Real Madrid is higher than at Chelsea."
Comments like that understandably were not appreciated by Chelsea supporters, so there was little doubt that he would be booed upon his return to Stamford Bridge last week. Now, according to The Athletic, the Belgian shot-stopper did something to play mind-games with his former side in the first-leg.
Courtois reportedly told Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema to switch ends before the game kicked off, if he won the coin toss. He did, and the teams switched sides.
Los Blancos kicked in front of the Shed End in the first-half, something that Chelsea usually do, and then play ahead of the Matthew Harding Stand in the second period. This meant Courtois was facing up to the hostility straight away from kick-off on Wednesday.
It was a brave move from Courtois, who was going to face boos from whichever end he was standing at anyway, but one that perhaps got in the back of Chelsea players' heads. The Belgian managed to keep his celebrations somewhat under wraps, though, with Benzema scoring a sublime hat-trick on the evening to dismantle Chelsea.
The Blues will be hoping to take revenge on Tuesday evening as they look to retain their Champions League crown this term. They will have to do so, though, without Ben Chilwell (knee), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles), Romelu Lukaku (Achilles) and Ross Barkley (illness), who are not traveling with the rest of the squad to Madrid.
Tuchel could be tempted to start Timo Werner at the Bernabeu, after the German forward netted a rare double in Saturday's victory over Southampton. The Chelsea boss was very complimentary of Werner after the game, but offered him some advice on how to keep improving.
He said: "You sign up for Chelsea or a top club, you have to live up to it and accept the pressure that comes with it. You have to help yourself in training and you come on the pitch as a substitute. You have to be ready when the chance comes to be there and this is what he did."
Tuchel continued: "But he still needs to learn to adapt through moments like this because he used to play regularly and used to teams built for him and he played for a transition team before. He needs to adapt to the physicality still of the league and it is a process. The process isn't finished but it was a big step in the right direction."
