Atletico Madrid fans get to watch Diego Costa play every week. Don’t tell them La Liga is boring.
Costa added a sensational, overhead-kick goal to his personal highlight reel on Saturday. It was the fifth goal in his team’s emphatic 7-0 victory against Getafe in La Liga (Spain’s first division).
In the 69th minute, Atletico captain Gabi sent a pass toward Costa in the Getafe area. Seeing that the pass was slightly behind him, Costa checked his run, launched himself into the air, met the ball with an overhead kick and rifled his shot past goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya.
The strike, Costa’s 17th goal in 2013-14, was the latest in a string of eye-catching goals the Brazil-born striker has scored in this most impressive season. He lit up the UEFA Champions League with a superb solo goal against Rapid Vienna last month, and a recent thigh injury could prevent him from dazzling fans of Spanish soccer with his play.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more league goals than Costa since the season kicked off in August, and second-placed Atletico trails Barcelona by three points in the standings after 14 games. Costa is spearheading his team’s attempt to break the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly, which has dominated the Spanish game for over a decade. Like Barcelona and Real, Atletico is now routing weaker teams on a regular basis.
Yet, Atletico manager continues to claim that La Liga is boring because two teams reign supreme, according to Football Espana.
“I remain convinced La Liga is boring,” Simeone said after Saturday’s game. “There is little opportunity for teams other than Barcelona or Real Madrid, but our players have put in some massive work and we’ll see what happens.
“I’m referring to what has happened in the last decade. We can’t compare to them.”
This has been Simeone’s mantra all season, despite his team’s fast start. While the Argentine tactician is trying to motivate his team, fans and neutrals alike should enjoy the feats of Costa and Atletico. Their suffocating pressure in defense and lethal counter-attack make them one of world soccer’s most exciting teams, and Costa’s goal-tally makes it clear why the national teams of Brazil and Spain were so keen on having him on their team.
Costa, 25, ultimately chose to play for Spain. Barring injury, he’ll likely be an important part of his adopted country’s pursuit of a second-consecutive FIFA World Cup title in Brazil next summer. By then, he will have fought, sprinted, flipped, kicked and scored his way from Brazil to … Brazil.
See Costa’s overhead-kick goal against Getafe below.
Click here to see Costa’s solo goal against Rapid Vienna>>
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GIF via Reddit
