Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa has denied insulting referee Gil Manzano during their 2-0 defeat to Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Saturday night.
The Spanish international was given a straight red card on 27 minutes, after Manzano responded to alleged comments from the former Chelsea striker.
Manzano stated in his post-match report that Costa made insulting comments about his mother – and he was left with no option but to dismiss the 30 year-old.
However, Jan Oblak claims that Costa assured his team mates he did not make any 'ugly' comments to the referee, and that was the reason for his anger in the immediate aftermath.
Diego Godin and Jose Giminez were booked for protesting Costa's sending off, however the referee did not include any additional information on the Uruguayan pair in his report.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone stated that if the referee heard an insult, then Costa deserved to be sent off, however he criticised the inconsistency in similar situations.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique moved to dismiss suggestions that he tried to aggravate the situation as Costa left the pitch, adding that he tried to calm the situation and his former Spanish international team mate.
