Diego Costa’s Injury Might Be Worse Than Originally Expected

Joao Felix had to fill in for Diego Costa in the second half of the match against Celta Vigo in the last machtday of La Liga. The striker had to retire as he was in serious pain. 

Diego Costa is no stranger to injury, in the last 3 years alone he’s suffered more than 14 injuries on the field. His latest one, for which he has undergone tests at Clínica Universidad de Navarra and is confirmed to be a “muscle injury in the abductors of the left thigh” according to the vague medical report, might be worse than how it is presented. 

His recovery could mean (at best) a 10-day leave for the Atlético Madrid player, but most likely it will take several weeks before Costa is given permission to come back. The only thing that’s certain at this point is that the Hispano-Brazilian will not make an appearance at tomorrow’s match against the legendary Bayern Munich in Germany for the Champions League match.

The striker has already missed 46 encounters due to injury since his return to the Atlético Madrid in 2018 and this one came at the worst possible moment, right before three decisive matches in the Champions League. Costa has been a key piece in Simeone’s rotation as the replacement for Luis Suarez and sometimes as a deadly striker duo with Suarez.

With this unexpected event, Simeone is now facing an additional challenge in his already demanding schedule. Right-back Sime Vrsaljko will definitely miss tomorrow’s match as he’s recovering from a knee injury and both José María Jiménez and Saúl Ñíguez have been struggling with muscular pain since last week, these injuries will probably keep them off the field against Bayern as they missed Monday’s training session.