Barcelona's La Liga title rival Atletico Madrid was made to endure a tough start when the pair went head to head in Saturday's epic clash at Camp Nou. Los Rojiblancos were made to deal with the misfortune of competing with 10 men after forward Diego Costa was given his marching orders after he apparently shouted expletives at the referee of the game, Gil Manzano.
The former Chelsea striker was handed his first start by Diego Simeone following a spell on the sidelines with an injury. However, the 27-year-old failed to make an impact to reward his manager's faith in him and ended up changing the complexity of the game with his sending off.
9 - Nine Atlético's players have been sent off against Barcelona since Simeone era, triple than against any other opponent in all competition in the process. Severity pic.twitter.com/YOtfpoY2Wx
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 6, 2019
The turn of event was fully ushered in when the Spanish forward was tackled to the ground by Barcelona's Arthur. Despite anticipating a foul call from the referee, play was allowed to continue and the striker saw his protest falling on deaf ears.
Angered by the referee Manzano's decision, Costa charged aggressively at him and shouted expletives. According to Catalan news outlet Ara, the striker said "Me cago en tu puta de madre", which roughly translates to "I s**t on your f***ing mother."
Watch the incident below [geo-restrictions may apply]:
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— Eleven Sports (@ElevenSports_UK) April 6, 2019
Diego Costa has been shown a red card!
Atletico Madrid are down to 10 men against Barcelona #BarcaAtleti pic.twitter.com/dPPhCylOwW
Diego Costa in La Liga in 2019:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 6, 2019
Goals: 1
Red cards: 1
It's an early bath for him at Camp Nou. pic.twitter.com/nhMO2w8GwI