Bayer Leverkusen vs. Atletico Madrid Preview
Where: BayArena – Leverkusen, Germany
When: Tuesday, February 21, 2017, 2:45 PM ET
Line: Bayer Leverkusen +205 vs. Atletico Madrid +118, draw +209; total 2.0 – view all Champions League lines
Writer’s Pick: Draw (+209)
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Betting on Bayer Leverkusen (+205)
Bayer Leverkusen are finally finding some kind of consistency in what’s been a slightly disappointing domestic season thus far. The Germans will head into this first leg on the strength of back-to-back Bundesliga wins over Frankfurt (3-0) and away at Augsburg (3-1). That’s the first time they’ve won back-to-back league games since November.
Javier Hernandez was instrumental in both wins as he scored two goals in each of those games. “Chicharito” has been on fire of late, with five goals in four games since returning for the winter break. Meanwhile, Karim Bellarabi is back after a five-month injury layoff and got on the scoresheet for the first time over the weekend.
Bellarabi missed Leverkusen’s entire Champions League group stage campaign, where they went undefeated with two wins and four draws. Those two wins, though, came against their two toughest competitors, Tottenham and Monaco.
Leverkusen have reached the Champions League round of 16 three other times since 2011, but have failed to progress on all three tries. Their last appearance was in 2014-15, where they lost to Atletico on penalties. However, they did win the home leg, 1-0. That win sparked Atletico’s winless run in Champions League knockout stage away legs, which now stands at five games (one draw, four losses).
Betting on Atletico Madrid (+118)
Atletico Madrid have been playing some of their best football of the season in recent weeks. They’re undefeated in their seven La Liga games since returning from the winter break, and have won three games in a row. They most recently spanked Sporting 4-1 away during the weekend, with Kevin Gameiro scoring a hat-trick.
Atleti manager Diego Simeone will be spoiled with the wealth of attacking options he’ll have at his disposal against Leverkusen. Apart from his first-choice pairing of Gameiro and Antoine Griezmann, who’ve combined for 28 goals this season, he can also call on the likes of Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco and Fernando Torres for goals. Carrasco has scored in each of his last two games, while Torres has three in his last three.
Atletico didn’t do much scoring during the group stage. They had just seven in six games, including two in three away matches. But that was still enough to get them five wins in six and see them through as group winners over Bayern Munich. Their outstanding defense remained resolute throughout as they allowed just two goals, which was tied for the best defensive record in the stage.
Their defense will still be missing veteran defenders Diego Godin and Juanfran due to injury, but they will have first-choice goalie Jan Oblak back from his two-month layoff following shoulder surgery.
Writer’s Prediction
Leverkusen and Atletico play out a 1-1 draw (+209) in their first leg matchup.
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