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LA LIGA

Diego Costa back for Atlético’s visit to Getafe

La Liga leaders Atlético Madrid will be able to welcome back top scorer Diego Costa from a hamstring injury when they travel to Getafe on Sunday.

Diego Costa back for Atlético's visit to Getafe
Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

The Spanish international has missed Atlético's last two games, including their 1-0 win over Barcelona on Wednesday that saw them progress to the Champions League semi-finals.

Los Rojiblancos are just six league games away from their first league title since the 1995/1996 season, but coach Diego Simeone has insisted they can't afford to start believing in the hype surrounding their incredible season after dumping Barca out of Europe.

"The league is very advanced and we are in a very nice position, but to have the same options as today we have to play very well tomorrow," he said on Saturday.

"After every game there is less to go and we know what we are playing for, but that depends on how we respond as a team. We had four days to recover and tomorrow we will see if we rotate or not."

"More than ever we have to live game by game. It is important to isolate everything from out with the club and to feel and experience everything what is going on."

"There are four Spanish teams in European semi-finals and we are first in that league. That makes us proud but also motivates and strengthens us. Tomorrow we will have to roll up our sleeves and run once more."

Turkish midfielder Arda Turan is the only major absentee from Simeone's squad due to injury, but the Argentine is expected to make a few changes to the side that started in midweek with Toby Alderweireld and Mario Suarez likely to join Costa back in the starting line-up.

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FOOTBALL

‘Something no black player wants’: Bilbao striker suffers racist abuse

Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki Williams said he was the victim of racist abuse on Saturday during his team's 1-1 draw away to Espanyol in La Liga.

'Something no black player wants': Bilbao striker suffers racist abuse
Bilbao striker Inaki Williams celebrates during Saturdays game against Espagnol. Photo: Cesar Manso/AFP
“I'm a little sad because of the draw but especially because I have suffered racist insults,” Williams told the official club website after the game. “It's something that no black player or player of any race wants to hear. It's something totally out of place.”
   
“People have to come to the stadium to enjoy the game, to cheer on their team, to enjoy football. It's a game of friendship, of the team,” added the forward. “The truth is that it has been a sad day because of what I am telling you,
because these events that are totally out of place do not have to happen.”
 
Inaki wrote later on social media: “It is very sad that today we continue to experience racism in football. We have to end it. Thank you for your support. #Nomocracies #Semiostracism.”
 
   
Athletic Bilbao offered their backing for the 25-year-old. “All our support to @Williaaams45,” the club wrote in a message on Twitter. “Before anything, zero tolerance for racism.”
 
La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation are yet to comment but La Liga president Javier Tebas said it had been a dark day for the sport after violence also broke out between fans of Barcelona and Valencia before their fixture at Mestalla.
   
“Today we have taken a step back in the work that we started years ago,” Tebas wrote on Twitter. “The violent incidents between fans of Barcelona and Valencia, the racist insults made at Inaki Williams — these things are doing a lot of damage to Spanish football. “La Liga takes responsibility. We will look at the clubs where there has been wrongdoing.”
   
Referee Jose Sanchez made no mention of racism in his official report of the match between Espanyol and Bilbao.
   
The game also continued, unlike in December, when a Spanish second division fixture between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete was suspended with the agreement of the two clubs and La Liga.
   
Some Rayo supporters had chanted “Zozulya is a Nazi” in the first half against Albacete's Ukrainian striker Roman Zozulya, who had previously played for Rayo.
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