'Never change, Diego Costa': Atletico ace bags FOUR goals and red card against rivals Real Madrid

Diego Costa scored four times before being given his marching orders for inciting a mid-game melee as Atletico Madrid trounced city rivals Real 7-3 in a hot-tempered pre-season fixture in New Jersey.

Former Chelsea striker Costa scored a first-half hat-trick, then added another shortly after half-time before a ruckus with Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal saw both men shown red cards midway through the second half.

The Spanish forward linked up excellently with Atletico's big money import from Benfica, Joao Felix, who also netted in the first half as his side built a 5-0 lead before the midway point of the game. Felix set up Costa just 60 seconds into the match, before adding his own effort seven minutes later.

Angel Correa added another on 19 minutes before Costa took charge with three more goals before the whistle for the break as Atletico ran riot.

After Costa's fourth, Nacho Fernandez pulled one back for Real before Costa and Dani Carvajal were dismissed for an angry confrontation which saw several members of both sides clash on the field.

Late goals from Karim Benzema and Javier Hernandez couldn't distract from another disappointing pre-season performance from Zinedine Zidane's big-money side.

Star additions Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic were named in a strong starting line-up but the side continued to struggle on their US tour, having already lost 3-1 to Bayern Munich and beaten Arsenal on penalties after a 2-2 draw. 

To compound Zidane's misery, Luka Modric went off with a knee injury as Real's injury woes continued following the ruptured ACL suffered by Marcos Asensio earlier on the tour. 

"We don't need to dwell on it, this is a pre-season game," said Zidane after the final whistle. "They were better in every respect and that's all there is to it.

"I'm convinced we're going to have a good season. We can't be pleased with today's defeat, that much is clear. But I'm convinced I've got a team here that is going to compete at the top level."

Atletico boss Diego Simeone was a little more candid in his post-match comments. "We have had a great time here," he said.