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Chelsea striker Diego Costa seemed to throw his training bib at manager Jose Mourinho during the London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham earlier today. Both the teams played out a boring draw as the match finished 0-0.
The Chelsea striker was demoted to the bench for the important match against London rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs. After warming up on the touchline until injury time, Costa returned to the bench once he realised he was not coming on to play. As he was making his way back to his seat, Costa took off his bib and threw it in the direction of his manager.
During the UEFA Champions League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Costa and Mourinho was involved in a half-time row, which Mourinho later told was resolved with “kisses and cuddles”.
Mourinho and the Brazillian-born Spanish striker were seen arguing just before the half-time interval and captain John Terry had to restrain the latter, as tensions were running high between the two. The former Real Madrid boss then sent the backup striker Loic Remy to warm up.
In the match against Tottenham, Mourinho selected Eden Hazard as his choice at the top. Explaining his selection before kick-off, Mourinho said, “He's playing every match and things are not going really well for his confidence,” as per reports on The Independent.
With the most recent development, it seems like it is not just Costa's confidence that is keeping him on the sidelines and the issue runs deeper than that.
On being asked about the bib-throwing incident during the post-match interview, Mourinho said, “Diego is privileged because he was the last player (to go) on the bench. He is privileged I kept him in the team so long.”
“I was not expecting a player to be on the bench jumping and singing... a top player on the bench is not happy. If he wants to hurt me, it's not with a bib. I don’t like my subs to warm up. I just want them to be mentally ready to play for when we need them. There’s no issue between me and Diego, it was just a decision,” Mourinho continued.
But, of course, fans on Twitter didn’t refrain from making fun of the situation.
