Madrid: Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino and his Atletico Madrid counterpart Diego Simeone clashed as rival players in their native Argentina and there will be no quarter given when they meet in the last eight of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Simeone was not yet 18 years old when he faced Martino, nearly 10 years his senior, in a league match between Velez Sarsfield and Newell’s Old Boys in January 1988, when Martino was sent off for a challenge on fellow midfielder Simeone, who was himself dismissed 10 minutes later.

No stranger to controversy during his playing career — Simeone was involved in the sending-off of England midfielder David Beckham at the 1998 World Cup — he admitted last year he had indulged in a spot of play-acting to try to provoke a red card for Martino.

“There was an incident in the middle of the pitch,” Simeone recalled in an interview with Argentine television. “He reacted to something, I exaggerated a bit and they ended up sending him off,” added the 43-year-old, said to play “with a knife between his teeth”.

“They sent me off about 10 minutes later, the referee compensated a little for his earlier decision.”

Almost three decades later and the older and wiser Martino and Simeone are in charge of two Spanish teams with a genuine chance of achieving a rare double of Champions League and La Liga titles.

Atletico are a point clear of Barca at the top of Spain’s domestic league with seven games left and their final match of the campaign is another trip to Barca’s daunting Nou Camp arena in May.

The goals of Atletico’s Brazil-born forward Diego Costa have underpinned the team’s success this season and he notched his 25th of the La Liga campaign at the weekend, three behind top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and two ahead of Messi.

Costa will be up against a host of new teammates from his adopted country Spain on Tuesday, including defenders Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba and midfielders Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Iniesta.

“Costa is a lad who is improving day by day, he has enormous physical strength,” Simeone told a news conference.

“The way the team plays is a consequence of what he can give us and he feels comfortable in the side.”

The winner of the tie following next week’s second leg in Madrid will go into the draw for the semi-finals on April 11.