Diego Costa is aiming to be fit for Arsenal’s first leg clash against Atletico Madrid at Ashburton Grove on 26 April as he tries to recover from a ‘slight’ hamstring strain.
Arsenal and Costa have history from his time at Chelsea and there’s no denying that facing Atletico without Costa in their side would be a far nicer proposition for Arsenal.
Suffering the problem in his left leg, Costa is attending the FREMAP de Majadahonda clinic in order to overcome the problem in time for the semi-final.
Diego Simeone will pick between Fernando Torres and Gameiro to partner Antoine Griezmann for their intervening games against Levante, Real Sociedad and Real Betis.
The Brazilian-turned-Spaniard, who is still supposedly only 29 despite looking like it’s been at least that many years since he saw his twenties, has won four of his six games against Arsenal, scoring three goals in the process and, remarkably, picking up only two yellows and no reds.
The last time Costa faced Arsenal was during the FA Cup final when Rob Holding fronted up to him, telling him he was nuts.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are unlikely to have Henrikh Mkhitaryan back for the first leg but if all goes to plan, he should return in time for the second leg in Madrid.