Atletico Madrid will have star striker Diego Costa back in the starting line-up for today’s title-deciding trip to Barcelona.

The powerhouse Spain international, who has scored 36 goals in all competitions this season, was notable in his absence as his team squandered an opportunity to tie up the title with a 1-1 draw against Malaga last weekend.

But manager Diego Simeone confirmed Costa has recovered from his hamstring injury, stating: “He is fit, he has trained without any problems and he will play from the start.”

Rather than attempting to stir his players into a frenzy with motivational speeches, Simeone insists he has been focusing simply upon the technical aspects of his job in the build-up to the game.

“There is no need to motivate the players ahead of a big match like this,” said the former Argentina international.

“The coach’s job is to get the team prepared and we are trying to come up with the best ways to make sure the match is played on our terms.”

And he added that next weekend’s Champions League meeting with near-neighbours Real Madrid in Lisbon has not been a factor in their preparations, stating: “Nobody is thinking about that game yet. We live in the moment.”

One recurring debate during this week’s build-up to the title decider has been the question of whether Barca or Atletico would be considered as the more worthy champions, but Simeone had no interest in expressing his opinion on that matter, adding: “It’s not about deserving it; it’s about winning it.”

Like his opposite number and fellow Argentine Tata Martino, Simeone is drawing little significance from the fact that Atletico have remained unbeaten in their five matches against Barcelona this season.

“Barca will start very strong and it will be the most difficult of the recent games that we’ve played against them.

“Barca are always dangerous, whichever system or players they use. They have a lot of variations and are an opponent who are used to attacking. We need to play a good game.”

However, Simeone admitted he never believed Atletico would come this close to upsetting Barca and Real Madrid’s domination in Spain.

“I never imagined a situation where at one point we were seven points ahead of Madrid and six in front of Barca, albeit they had games in hand. Even then, though, Barca never gave up and that is a very important value for them.

“We have two rivals who always compete to be where we are. Normally they win all the time but this year it hasn’t been like that.”