Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois says he would not be destroyed by the damning outcry over his performance against Barcelona in the Champions League.

Courtois has been blamed for the Blues’ defeat to the Spaniards last night after allowing two Lionel Messi shots through his legs - the first of which came after just 128 seconds.

But speaking to Standard Sport after Chelsea lost the second leg of their last- 16 tie 3-0 in the Camp Nou to go out 4-1 on aggregate, he said: “I don’t care what non-Chelsea people say, I know who I should listen to.

“I know who I don’t have to listen to - those that hope to kill you.

“There are those that when you are at the top, they just wait for that one little moment to destroy you.

“But nothing will destroy me. I will continue to work hard.

“I am hurt over what happened and don’t feel great at all.

“I’m a winner and I don’t like to lose, especially when it comes from a mistake by me.”

Despite being aware of the intense criticism he was getting immediately after the final whistle, the Belgium goalkeeper still did a TV interview moments later.

When asked to explain why he was prepared to talk so soon given most players would opt to avoid the limelight in that situation, he added: “I don’t want to hide my face behind the fact I made a mistake.

“At the Camp Nou, you never want to make an error after a few minutes in a game but it can happen.

“There’s beauty in football but there is also a bad side.

“I had some good saves later on and did what I could do after that. It was unlucky that the second goal [from Ousmane Dembele] was a shot that I touched but it was just not enough and the third was a good, hard shot under my legs. Sometimes that can happen when you’re a tall keeper and your legs are obviously bigger.

“But I’m not afraid to front up to people. I know I do my best every day to get better and achieve my highest level.

“I will be back in training on Thursday and working my butt off to make sure I make decisive saves the next time I play. I’m not afraid about that.”

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Many of the club’s supporters expressed their anger toward the 25-year-old on social media but Courtois wanted to make it clear he was not upset with them and hopes to make amends in the future.

He said: “The Chelsea fans know I have made a lot of good saves, big saves, to win games in the past.

“I will work hard again to make big saves in the next game I play - that’s my attitude.

“I have to learn from the mistakes I made and just move on.

“I think there were around 4,000 of our supporters in the stadium who had spent their time and money on Chelsea. I want to thank them for coming out and supporting us. We could hear them even though they were sat very high in the ground and stayed behind us, even when we were 2-0 and 3-0 down.”

Chelsea were left to rue a number of missed chances, including hitting the woodwork through Marcos Alonso and Antonio Rudiger - just as Willian did on two occasions in the first leg.

Barcelona were also fortunate not to concede a penalty when Gerard Pique pulled Alonso back in the area as he ran clear on goal.

“We were very unlucky,” Courtois said. “We were not worse than them in either game, we played well but individual errors cost us last night and in the first game.

“All four of their goals came from mistakes.

“We could have scored and were unlucky again by hitting the bar and the post. But that’s football sometimes and we just have to get our heads up and work again.”

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte said Lionel Messi was the difference, punishing the errors from his players in the Camp Nou.

But he insisted his team gave their all. “It is a pity,” said Conte. “At the same time, I must be honest. I must be very proud about my players - they gave everything and we have to continue in this way, with this will to fight and desire to fight together.

“We were a bit unlucky if you consider the two legs. We are showing we can play in both ways.

“The first leg, defensively we were more compact and only after our mistake they scored. They scored more but we didn’t deserve this result.”

Chelsea now face a challenge to qualify for the competition next term as they are four points off a top-four place, with eight Premier League games to go.

The Blues’ next match isn’t easy, either, as they take on Leicester at the King Power Stadium in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday.

Alonso said: “It is hard to pick ourselves up after that but we have to take the positives and fight because there is no time to regret anything.

“We have eight League games left and the FA Cup and we have to go for it 200 per cent.”