Diego Costa Dropped from Spain Squad Ahead of Luxembourg, Ukraine Qualifiers

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque has heaped more woe on Chelsea striker Diego Costa after omitting the forward from his squad for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Luxembourg and Ukraine, but Alvaro Morata and Nolito have made the cut.  

Morata and Nolito have been rewarded for their form at Juventus and Celta Vigo respectively. The Daily Mirror's Ed Malyon has quoted Del Bosque, who said Costa's recent outburst against Arsenal is to blame for his absence:

“What he did was unedifying, and that is why he was punished. Of course, I didn’t like what he did.”

Vlatko Perkovski/Associated Press

Chelsea beat the Gunners 2-0 at Stamford Bridge last month, but Costa was handed a retrospective three-match suspension after tangling with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista.

Del Bosque's decision comes after Costa netted just once in his nine appearances to date for his adopted nation of Spain; he's struggled in adapting to the team's style of play.

The Spanish national team's official Twitter account provided a breakdown of the 23-man squad in full, which includes Costa's Chelsea team-mates Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Cesar Azpilicueta:

Juventus are enduring a troubled start to the Serie A season, and Morata is yet to score domestically this term, but his Champions League goals against Manchester City and Sevilla haven't gone unnoticed.

Meanwhile, Nolito has been in predatory form for Celta, bagging five goals and making three assists in just six La Liga matches this season, including a brace in his side's 4-1 demolition of Barcelona in September.

Lalo R. Villar/Associated Press

Spain currently lead Euro 2016 qualification Group C and have a two-point cushion over Slovakia, but they face a swift three-day turnaround next week, facing Luxembourg on Oct. 9 before travelling to meet Ukraine on Oct. 12.

Nolito has earned two Spain caps since making his debut in November 2014, and he is once again enjoying the kind of form that led ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan to laud the forward's talent earlier this year:

Valencia's Paco Alcacer is also in Del Bosque's squad, despite scoring just once this season, leaving some question as to when Costa can expect a recall and how hard he'll have to work in order to earn it.

The 26-year-old is currently serving a three-match domestic suspension following the now-infamous altercation against Arsenal, with Chelsea wallowing at 14th in the Premier League.

The striker is confident the club's—and in turn his—form will come back, though, after admitting to ESPN FC his side have been off the boil this term, per AS.com (via ESPNFC.co.uk): "To come out of this we need to be all together, and for everyone to give a little more. We are not playing well, this is not a good moment, but we have players to get out of this easily."

Costa faces an uphill fight to make it back into the national-team reckoning, with his rivals showcasing fine form while he and his club team-mates simply cannot find a way out of what's been a subpar start to the season.