Diego Costa loves scoring goals – he has 13 of them in the league this season – and in his third season at Chelsea, he has helped guide them to a massive lead atop the Premier League table heading into Christmas. He has been in fine form, and always a confidence-striker, he has looked unstoppable at times this season – at times single handedly bagging three points for Antonio Conte’s charges.
If there’s one thing, Diego Costa loves more than scoring goals though, it’s getting into a scrap. Which goes to explain why he said what he said when asked what he missed most about La Liga
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‘I used to love the games against Real Madrid and the chance to face Pepe and Ramos,’ he told Sport TV. ‘It was a good battle, where we always had trouble and sparks were flying. I can guarantee that they used to love them for the same reasons!
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He went on to elaborate, in case any of us didn’t get the point –
“We went out on the pitch knowing that they would be intense games but the important thing was that there was loyalty. They went out hard, I did too, but without being disloyal. And the games against them always had friction: some sort of insult, some kicking. But after the end of the game, we would always greet each other without any problems. Now, with Ramos, we’re team-mates with the national team and we’re always joking that I can’t do it anymore.’
They’d had some tempestous clashes over the years, with Diego Costa more often than not coming up on top – a tribute to his skill as well as his mental toughness.
After getting a fifth yellow over the last weekend (yes, that late – goes to show how Conte has imbibed a new sense of discipline in the temperental Spaniard turned Brazilian), Costa is suspended for the Blues' Boxing Day clash with Bournemouth
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Manager Antonio Conte is expected to replace him with Belgian sensation Michy Batshuayi, who is yet to start a game in the league since his £33million move from Marseille in the summer. It remains to be seen though if Batshuayi can step into the goal-scoring, and scrap-loving, boots of Costa, though.
