Thibaut Courtois has admitted he is thankful for the extra two days off Atletico Madrid will have had this week.
Atletico played Chelsea on Tuesday but don’t play until Sunday this week due to the Europa League commitments of their opponents, Valencia.
AS reports Courtois as saying in a video recorded for one of Atletico’s sponsors that the added time has been welcomed by the players.
“The good thing for us is that we have had two more rest days because Valencia played on Thursday,” Courtois revealed.
“It will be a hard game because it’s always tough at Mestalla. We saw in the Cup it would be a tough game. You have to play it as a final and we can only progress if we do that.”
Courtois added that Atletico were not deviating from the game-by-game maxim of the Coach, Diego Simeone.
“As we go game-bay-game our biggest now is Valencia. We’re at a good level, physically,” he said.
“I think we’re well. We can make another effort on the pitch and that’s good for our remaining games. The first final is on Sunday.”
Courtois was asked for his thoughts on being statistically the best goalkeeper in La Liga.
“It’s like last year. It’s something very nice to win but I think the Zamora trophy is for the whole team,” he replied.
“It’s the work of the defence and the forwards, the whole team, and they do their job well.
“The opposition don’t often get through and when they reach me, I try to stop them.
“The Zamora is very nice for the team and I hope to achieve it at the end of the season.”
