Atletico Madrid have been boosted by the news that top-scorer Diego Costa’s thigh injury is not as serious as first thought and he should be fit for key La Liga and Champions League fixtures.
Atletico released a statement on Friday revealing that the star man had missed the morning training session as he underwent scans to determine the seriousness of a thigh injury.
It was feared that the 25-year-old could miss the remaining three games of the season, two crunch games in La Liga as well as the Champions League final against rivals Real Madrid.
The club statement released on Friday read: “Diego Costa underwent tests to determine the extent of the grade one thigh injury muscle on his right leg.
“These tests have confirmed that there is no tear. The forward did not train with his team-mates in the morning session on Friday.”
However, it has now been reported by AS that the decision to keep the Spain international out of training was a precautionary measure and did not mean he was set to miss out on the final few games.
Los Rojiblancos are priced at 1.20 to pick up a win on Sunday against Malaga and boss Diego Simeone is expected to omit Costa from the clash but will be keen to have him ready for the trip to the Nou Camp a week later.
Simeone’s side head into the final two games of the campaign sitting top of the league with a four point advantage over Barca.
A win at Malaga this weekend will leave them requiring just a draw when they face the defending champions on the final day of the season.
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