Atletico allay Diego Costa injury fears

‘He is happy and well. One more cut does not do anything to this tiger.’

Diego Costa of Atletico Madrid bangs his knee off the goalposts while scoring Atletico’s second goal during against Getafe. Photograph:  Denis Doyle/Getty Images
Diego Costa of Atletico Madrid bangs his knee off the goalposts while scoring Atletico’s second goal during against Getafe. Photograph: Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Diego Costa will be fit to play against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final on April 22nd.

The 25-year-old forward, tipped by some to join Chelsea in the summer, collided with a post when scoring Atletico Madrid’s second goal in the 2-0 win at Getafe on Sunday. He left the field on a stretcher but Atletico have played down concerns that his shin injury was serious.

"Luckily, Diego Costa only has a wound after hitting the post," the club posted on Twitter. Diego Simeone said at his post-match press conference: "He is happy and well. One more cut does not do anything to this tiger."

The derby victory saw Simeone's side regain their three-point lead at the top of La Liga, although it was not a performance to savour. Diego Godin's goal was the only highlight of a poor first half. Not even the dismissals of Angel Lafita and Alexis could inspire the leaders, who saw Costa miss a penalty before making amends with his late goal.

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“The team did a great job. It was a very complicated fixture,” Simeone said. “The players showed effort and ambition to achieve a very important result. This takes us to where we wanted to be, with five rounds to go. There are five finals to go, and we’ll play them as such.”

Reuters