Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has allayed fears over
the severity of the injury suffered by striker Diego Costa in Sunday's 2-0
derby victory at Getafe, which moved Los Rojiblancos a step closer to the
Primera Division title.
The 25-year-old Brazil-born forward suffered a
worrying-looking injury after colliding with a post in scoring his side's
second goal and left the field on a stretcher, but Atletico moved quickly to
play down concerns it could be anything serious.
"Luckily, Diego Costa only has a wound after hitting
the post," the club posted on Twitter.
And Simeone said at his post-match press conference:
"He is happy and well . One more cut does not do anything to this
tiger."
The triumph saw Simeone's side regain their three-point lead
at the top of La Liga, although it was not a performance to savour.
Atletico struggled to break down their against their
relegation-threatened Madrid
rivals, with Diego Godin's goal 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.
"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.
"Now we focus on the fixture with Elche (on Friday), which is the next final we
have. We won't think about anything else but preparing for it and resting, so
the players get to it in good condition.
"From now on I change what I said about playing match
by match. For all of the fans, now we play final by final.
"Everyone put in a lot of effort. With humility and the
support of the fans, the victory away from home was achieved. I am looking to
next Friday, with a full stadium, and preparing to play one of the remaining
finals."
Barcelona's shock 1-0 defeat
at Granada on
Saturday evening meant Atletico can even now afford to lose one of their
remaining five games and still be crowned champions.
But Simeone urged his players not to worry about what Barca
and second-placed Real Madrid get up to and concentrate only on their own
objectives.
"I always said we depended on ourselves and I stick to
it," the Argentinian added. "This situation depends on the ambition,
the enthusiasm, the effort, the work and most of all the team's humility."
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