Diego Simeone has confirmed that Diego Costa will start Atletico Madrid's next La Liga match against Alaves on Sunday in preparation for the visit of Arsenal in the Europa League.
Costa has not played for Los Rojiblancos since 12 April when he suffered a thigh strain in the last round of the Europa League against Sporting Lisbon.
He recovered in time to make Simeone's squad which travelled to London and secured a comeback 1-1 draw against Arsenal, despite being down to 10 men, on Thursday night.
Atletico next take on mid-table Alaves in the Spanish league on Sunday afternoon, and Simeone confirmed that former Chelsea striker Costa will start that game ahead of the Europa League semi-final second-leg match at home to Arsenal four days later.
In Pictures | Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid | 26/04/2018
"I spoke with Costa to see how he was," Simeone told reporters. "On Thursday I thought [Fernando] Torres was better up front.
"Tomorrow [Costa] starts the game, and we will see how he feels in the game."
Simeone has also decided to rest some of his key players with the visit of Arsenal in mind - with Antoine Griezmann and Saul Niguez staying behind in Madrid while goalkeeper Jan Oblak has been left out of the travelling party as he recovers from a thigh issue.
"We are looking to win the game, to finish as high up the table as possible," Simeone added.
"We will go with the kids who are feeling strongest. [Jose] Gimenez, [Antoine] Griezmann and Saul are not travelling, and neither is Oblak, who has a thigh problem. The rest are all going."
