Spanish manager blames Chelsea for injury which forced Diego Costa out of squad

There has been plenty of tension between Chelsea and Spanish national team manager Vincente del Bosque in recent season, and even after Jose Mourinho and the club parted ways, that tension still exists. On Friday, del Bosque spoke about the reasoning for Diego Costa being left out of Spain's squad for a pair of upcoming friendlies, and hinted that he could have been called up if not for some decisions made by Guus Hiddink.

'Diego came off from a match with an injury in his quadriceps muscle but four days later, because Chelsea had much at stake, he was made to play again and finished in some pain. Although the doctors said he was getting better, we have opted not to include him.'

Del Bosque's frustration is seemingly due to Chelsea using one of their best players against PSG and Everton, two knockout ties which the Blues needed to win in order to have any hope of winning silverware. Now, Costa will be forced to miss friendlies against Italy and Romania, two matches which mean absolutely nothing, and will likely be forgotten by players and fans alike exactly one second after the final whistle is blown, if not earlier than that.

It's good that Spain aren't pushing the envelope with Costa or any of their other players for a pair of completely insignificant matches, as most players at top clubs are already overworked at this point. What would be even more beneficial, in all reality, is eliminating international friendlies during the club season entirely, as there is nothing useful that ever comes from them, and they're generally garbage football of little to no quality anyway.

Regardless, the two weeks off should be a nice break for Eden Hazard and Costa, both of whom will be able to remain in London to get healthy.