Diego Costa Set To Miss Maribor Clash

Chelsea will clash with fellow Group G opponent, Maribor without influential striker Diego Costa after picking up a hamstring injury, which also saw him side lined in the 2-1 defeat of Crystal Palace last Saturday.

The sensational striker will miss Chelsea’s third Champions’ League Group game match at the Stamford Bridge and Chelsea manager has confirmed that the Spaniard will miss the clash due to his nagging injury which also saw him miss out on Saturday’s win over persistent Crystal Palace.

The Portuguese who confirmed the condition of the Spaniard said in a press conference on Monday: “He hasn’t trained because he is not in the condition to do so,” Mourinho said.

“It’s the same problem [hamstring injury] that he is having, it’s simple. Let’s see what happens for the next weekend [against Manchester United].

The Spaniard has made a sensational start in the Premier League, scoring nine goals, after switching from Atletico Madrid in the summer to be with the Blues.

Chelsea currently has 4 points from two games in Group G and the Blues’ manager further confirmed that several of his players will be out of action for the clash against Maribor.

According to Chelsea boss, Andre Shurrle, Ramirez and Nigeria star, John Mikel Obi will also miss out in the clash while striker Didier Drogba is not fit to play a full match.

“Mikel made a big effort to be available for the weekend. He came back from the national team with a foot problem. He can’t play [against Maribor],” the Chelsea manager said.

“Didier Drogba is not in a good condition to play for 90 minutes, but he can play.”

With Diego Costa out and a struggling Drogba, Chelsea would look to find attacking alternatives on the bench, following Mourinho’s warning that the Slovenian club are not to be taken lightly and that resting some of them ahead of the clash with Manchester United at the weekend will not be an option.

“The group is not an easy one,” Mourinho stated.

“[Maribor] are a difficult team and I’m happy because I think my players have the feeling they are a difficult opponent so we must play with the best we have. We are not going to give favours by resting or changing the team.

“We have four points in the group, which is not bad but we need seven out of three matches as that gives us a little bit of stability for the second part.”

Chelsea face Manchester United at the weekend and the Chelsea boss has admitted that he has no idea when the Spaniard will be available for club side.

Costa joined Chelsea from Atletico in the summer for a fee of £32 million. The striker has been in sublime form for the Blues this season, having scored nine goals so far for Jose Mourinho’s side.