Diego Costa blames Christmas fixtures for Chelsea Champions League exit

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/25/diego-costa-chelsea-champions-league

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Diego Costa has told the Spanish sports paper Marca that the Christmas fixture list in England undermined Chelsea’s Champions League campaign, which was ended by Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16.

The Spain international striker said: “Maybe the Christmas exertions have taken their toll. We played three matches in seven days. It’s no excuse though.” But he added: “I’m sure next season we’ll go further in the Champions League.”

Chelsea drew 1-1 with PSG at the Parc des Princes in the first leg but went out on away goals at Stamford Bridge after Thiago Silva equalised six minutes from the end of extra time to earn the French champions a 2-2 draw.

“We had enough quality to play a different game [in London] but it was not to be,” Costa said. “PSG have a great team and we have to accept it and congratulate them.”

Costa, who is absent from international duty because of a hamstring injury, has been impressed by the standard of the Premier League describing it as “a tough league with some great teams in it, I don’t think it’s overrated”.

He has enjoyed pitting his skills against Premier League defenders. “I take a beating constantly, just like in Spain,” he said. “But I’m not complaining. They go in hard, but also you don’t get the free-kicks you do in Spain. Sometimes defenders try to target me and put me off my game, but my self-control is getting better and I just try to do my thing.”

Costa said he found José Mourinho had shared characteristics with Diego Simeone, the coach of his former club Atlético Madrid. “They’re similar in many respects,” he said. “They have the same vision and the same hunger to win. Mou has been winning things for many years now and has a wealth of experience. The same goes for Simeone. They both have the same ambition and a similar way of looking at matches.”