Celta travel to the Spanish capital next Saturday to face Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano. For that reason, Diego Simeone held a press conference ahead of the La Liga clash.
Of course, the main talking point was Diego Costa, who was sanctioned an eight match ban, a "harsh" punishment from the Competitions Committee that will prevent him from playing again until next season.
On the topic of the sanction, Simeone commented: "Diego Costa's sanction seems exaggerated to me. The club will therefore resort to what we believe, knowing that there is an audio recording to which we can refer ... ".
"On Monday we spoke for 45 minutes before training and on Tuesday as well. Everything I had to say to him I said and he did the same with me. Now you have to prepare for next season. I hope he has a great preseason and is on top form for next year," said Diego Simeone on the sanction given to the Spanish forward.
As for Costa's season as a red-and-white, he explained: "Costa's season was a consequence of his actions. Clearly, it was not good because he has had many injuries. I repeat: do not put that it was not good. The metatarsal injury left him out for two months. He started very well, in the Supercup, showing he would have a promising season.
And he added: "He began to feel discomfort in September/October, until he stretched, we wanted him to play in Girona but he was not fully fit ... His return was premature, he wanted to be back for the Champions League, playing 70 minutes without having time for both. Hopefully now he can have a fantastic preseason and can respond as we are accustomed to seeing him play.
"I'm counting on Costa absolutely"
"I don't think we're treated any differently. In this case I do believe that the sanction is exaggerated. I'm counting on Costa absolutely. You know how I feel about him. Our players must be taken care of and at this time more than ever with Costa," said Simeone on the subject.
Cholo also had time to talk about Nehuén: "He has been with us for a short time. We have gathered a lot of information on him, he has grown in training and we are analyzing the possibility of him playing or not."
As for the outstanding duel against Celta, he said: "Escriba's arrival gave the team a change bringing with it a desire to fight for the title. They need to give their all, the results against Villarreal and Real Sociedad speak for themselves, we were at a disadvantage and recovered. The presence of Aspas strengthens the team and it is felt across the team when he is missing.
"It is a nice moment to see how people are. And I'm not just talking about the fans. He talked about the players, the coaching staff, the people in general. You have to see how everyone is in these final moments of the season. I'm not disappointed," he added.
At the end of the press conference, Simeone wanted to assess Atletico's second team, who play Madrid B for promotion: "The best thing about preseason, remember the tour games, is that there were no professionals, and they, the boys, had to play and their work made them grow and to have no professionals, gave them space and experience, you can see they are performing at a high level.