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Atlético Madrid striker Diego Costa has admitted he feared the worst, after his injury at Getafe last weekend, but all clear to play against Elche on Friday night, he’s looking forward to another ‘final’ in the bid to win La Liga.

Having received the Mahou Five-Star award for the month of March, Diego Costa thanked fans who voted for him via Twitter and spoke of how crucial this final stretch of the season will be, both in La Liga and the Champions League.

“We’re in a very decisive month. We all know what we’ve got to play for during this month, but the team has the mentality, the strength and the conviction, and we’ll be giving everything we’ve got.”

The Spain international also highlighted the sentiments of manager, Diego Simeone, when it comes to referring to the Friday night match against Elche, as the first of five ‘finals’ that Atlético Madrid face, in this final stretch of the season.

“The manager has said that every game is a final now and we have to face it as a final, because it’s a very important game for us, against an opponent who always make things complicated. They have a good team, but we’ll be trying to play our own game. We know that at home and with our fans, we’re very strong and we’ll be trying to get a positive result.”

There will be few who won’t have winced and taken a sharp intake of breath last weekend, when they saw images of Diego Costa colliding violently with the post, as he scored the second Atlético goal at Getafe. The striker himself was very thankful, that it hadn’t been much worse than a cut and bruising.

“It was a scare and thanks to God, it wasn’t anything more. I’m fine now though and I’m really looking forward to playing this next game.”

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