Diego Costa went from hero to villain as Atletico Madrid handed out a footballing lesson to city rivals Real Madrid in the 2019 International Champions Cup.
A brilliant first-half performance saw a Costa inspired Atletico thrash Madrid 7-3 in the ICC2019 on Friday night.
The enigmatic striker put on a show as he netted four goals before turning villain when he was sent off in the second alongside Dani Carvajal.
All his goals arrived in the opening 51 minutes of the game, including a first half hat-trick, as Diego Simeone’s men ran riot against their city rivals.
Record signing, Joao Felix, grabbed a goal and an assist, with Angel Correa also on the score sheet as Atletico went into the break with a 5-0 lead.
Costa scored his fourth and sixth for Atletico six minutes after the restart before Nacho Fernandez pulled one back eight minutes later to bring the scoreline to a respectable 6-1.
Not long after that, the game became even more dramatic as Costa and Carvajal engaged in a brawl which saw both players handed their marching orders four minutes after the hour mark.
Atletico was the first to strike thereafter, as Vitolo compounded Los Blancos woes with their seventh goal of the day to make it 7-1.
However, Zinedine Zidane’s side pulled back two more goals in the final five minutes courtesy of a Karim Benzema penalty and a goal from defender, Javier Hernandez, for a 7-3 final score.
An embarrassing end for Zidane and Madrid, who had all their summer signings including the trio of Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic and Rodrygo on the pitch alongside wantaway star, Gareth Bale.
