Diego Costa: referees hate me
The Spanish international - who returned to Atletico Madrid in summer - was denied a penalty in his side’s 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao last night when he was brought down by Unai Nunez in the box.
The Colchoneros would end up winning it anyway, with Kevin Gameiro and Costa himself netting two goals in the last 23 minutes to keep the Madrid side seven points short of leaders Barcelona.
“I think it’s a penalty,” Costa said after the game. "I was going to shoot, [Nunez] dives in, makes contact with me and puts me off balance. Not giving it is the referee's decision and I'm not going to complain.
"You know how it is. [Some] referees hate me and there's no way to change it. Referees, not all of them, book me for the smallest thing.
"He was desperate to book me and that's that. There's no use thinking about it any more."
The Spanish-Brazilian hasn’t exactly made himself the most popular player around, and is known for his confrontational, physical style. He was constantly in the papers in England for his bad behaviour, and isn’t believed to be popular in general…