Chelsea Duo Thibaut Courtois And Filipe Luis Nominated For La Liga Awards

Chelsea duo Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis have been nominated in the best goalkeeper and best defender categories respectively for a La Liga award ceremony celebrating players' achievements last season.

After excelling on loan at Atletico Madrid during the previous three campaigns, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho decided to bring Courtois back to west London in the summer, handing him the number one role ahead of Petr Cech.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese boss also signed Courtois' then Atletico Madrid teammate Luis for a reported fee of £16m to replace Ashley Cole – even though with Cesar Azpilicueta excelling in his position, he is yet to make the impact expected.

The Chelsea duo were crucial assets in Diego Simeone's line-up alongside Diego Costa in Atletico Madrid's impressive campaign. The club won La Liga and reached the Champions League final after beating the Blues in the semi-final, before losing to Real Madrid.

La Liga has now recognised their merits by nominating both for the La Liga awards at a ceremony that will take place on 27 October.

Courtois is in contention for the best 'keeper award alongside Real Madrid's Keylor Navas and Manchester City's Willy Caballero, while Luis has been nominated for the best defender prize alongside Atletico Madrid's Joao Miranda and Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos.

La Liga explains its selection on its official website, claiming Courtois was the 'keeper who conceded the fewest goals last season while praising Luis for proving to be a force in Atletico's line-up.

"A 2013-14 Liga BBVA champion conceded fewer goals than any other keeper during the season [26]. The young Thibaut Courtois, one of the main architects of Atletico Madrid's success in recent seasons, now plies his trade at Chelsea FC, but his dives, his saves and his safe hands have earned themselves a place in Rojiblanco history," La Liga said about Courtois.

While speaking about the left-back, La Liga added: "Filipe Luis used all his ability, physical strength and speed to become a permanent fixture in Diego Simeone's starting eleven in the 2013/14 season.

"The Liga BBVA champion played for a total of 2,880 minutes in the top flight of Spanish football, proving to be a force in the Rojiblanco back line. The left-back now plays for Chelsea FC."