Alvaro Morata was introduced by Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone against Mallorca on Wednesday night, but he didn’t stick around for long.
The 26-year-old was brought on in the 69th minute with his side already 2-0 up, but he was sent back to the changing room just eight minutes later.
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He was booked for unsportsmanlike conduct initially and then was given his marching orders by referee Alejandro Hernandez just moments later after a verbal exchange.
That will prove to be a costly mistake from the Spaniard, as he’ll now be suspended for the derby against Real Madrid this weekend, as per Eurosport.
Given he didn’t start during the week anyway, Simeone will perhaps feel comfortable with the other options at his disposal as both Diego Costa and Joao Felix were on target in their win over Mallorca which temporarily moved them to the top of the La Liga table.
However, they were leapfrogged by Real Madrid soon after and so it sets up an intriguing encounter at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday night.
After his moment of madness in midweek though, Morata won’t play any part as he seemingly couldn’t keep his emotions in check, but despite his tally of only one goal in four outings so far this season, he had been a key starter for Atleti prior to suffering a knee injury which ruled him out against Eibar and Real Sociedad.
Time will tell if his absence hurts them, but he’ll undoubtedly need to use the experience as a learning curve to control himself in future to avoid disciplinary action.
