Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa has claimed that 'officials hate him', and the Spain international does not believe that he will ever be able to change their opinion.
Costa scored in Atletico's 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, but the forward was also booked for debating an offside decision, and had a couple of penalty shouts turned down at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The former Chelsea striker has insisted that he should have had a penalty at the weekend, but is not surprised that the decision went against him.
"The officials hate me and there's nothing I can do to change that," Diario AS quotes Costa as saying. "Some of them book me for the smallest issue and it did not matter what it was but [against Athletic Bilbao] the referee was going to book me no matter what.
"You can look back at the replay and analyse it, but I did not overstep the mark and did not deserve it, but there is nothing I can do about it now. The penalty appeal? I think it is yes, I was knocked off balance by contact from the defender when I was going to shoot so I think it was!"
Costa re-joined Atletico from Chelsea at the end of last year before making his return to the field in early 2018.
Matt Law
