Diego Costa isn't exactly known for keeping his cool.

Across his career, the Spanish striker has been renowned for winding up defenders, trying to score by any means necessary and accumulating innumerable yellow cards.

So, it wasn't overly surprising when the 30-year-old was once again involved in controversy this season but even by Costa's 'high' standards, this latest incident was rather shocking.

Costa has been slapped with the biggest ban of his footballing career and will not appear in the next eight Atletico Madrid games for which he is available.

That's because, during the 2-0 defeat to Barcelona, Costa was seen shouting abuse at referee Jesus Gil Manzano, who proceeded to detail the incident in his match report.

Costa slapped with eight-match ban

The official claimed that Costa had told him: "I s*** on your wh*** mother, I s*** on your wh*** mother."

Manzano went on to explain in his review: "Once expelled, still on the field of play, he grabbed me by the arm in order to prevent me from showing the cards to teammates No.2 and No.24."

It wasn't exactly Costa's classiest moment and it's been forecasted that - including the summer - the forward won't be returning to action for over 140 days.

Costa has been banned for 43 games

However, just how does Costa's latest suspension compare to the rest of his career?

Well, using the statistics supplied by TransferMarkt, it can be calculated that the Spaniard has missed 43 games throughout his career.

A pretty remarkable statistic and considering he has only played more matches than that in two campaigns throughout his career, it's essentially the equivalent of an entire season.

Take a look at the full list of his bans and suspensions down below:

If we're not being picky about international breaks and summers, that's technically over 450 day's worth of time in the stands.

But just how much is 43 games, really? 

When you compare the total to Pepe (24) and Sergio Ramos (29) - considered two of the dirtiest current players - it really puts his misdemeanors into context.

However, if there is one thing that Pepe does have going for him, it's that he still holds the record for the largest ban in Spanish football from the 21st Century.

The Portuguese was slapped with a whopping 10-match suspension after essentially attacking Javier Casquero off the ball for Real Madrid.

Since that incident, though, he largely moped through smaller bans for accumulating yellow cards as well as the occasional dismissal.

Costa might not have amassed as many red cards as some football fans might expect, but he's spent his fair share of time watching from the sidelines and we don't mean injuries.

Who do you think is the dirtiest player in the world? Have your say in the comments section below.