The Weekly Rojiblanco: Seeing Red Edition

• Costa, Atleti lose red card appeal

Atlético Madrid’s appeal of Diego Costa’s red card against Getafe this past weekend has been rejected by the Spanish Football Federation. The result of the appeal should not come as a surprise since Costa’s run-up to the stands after his 68th minute strike did technically run afoul of the rules.

However, one wishes, perhaps, that referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero had used some discretion in issuing Costa’s second yellow card for the incident. After all, it was Costa’s first goal in front of the home crowd since his protracted summer transfer saga.

Montero issued an alarming total of 10 yellow cards in the match, including seven to Atlético, though Antoine Griezman’s yellow was rescinded by the Federation upon review of the 44th minute tackle.

• João Mário/Gaitán trade in the works

A report from AS (citing Sky Sports) suggests that a swap could be in the works between Inter Milan and Atlético Madrid. On offer for Atlético is Portuguese winger João Mário, with Nico Gaitán heading the other way to Milan.

Neither player has been able to make a consistent impact with their current club, due to stiff competition at their respective positions. Gaitán’s departure feels inevitable at this point, with several Premier League clubs vying for his signature among others. Still, bringing in a player who can add depth and competition on the wing is certainly appealing.

• Vietto unloads on Las Palmas

Luciano Vietto has scored 4 goals for his parent club since making the move from Villarreal in 2015. But in his first match since his loan to Valencia last week he scored three, including this screamer to lock in his hat-trick:

Wow.

It will be interesting to see if Vietto ever gets another chance with Atleti, but production like that on a consistent basis would be tough to ignore.

• In the ring with Diego Costa

AS dropped a fun story today about how Costa used boxing to get in shape for his winter return for Atlético. Definitely worth a look, and given his early production, I’d say things worked.