Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen
Competition: UEFA Champions League 2016/17
Date: 15 th March, 19:45 pm BST
Stadium:Estadio Vicente Calderon (Madrid).


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Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen Preview and Prediction

Atletico Madrid look sure to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals barring a shock turnaround from a Bayer Leverkusen side who have changed their manager since the first leg.

Roger Schmidt paid the price for a run of five defeats in seven matches, the latest of which was 6-2 away to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga to leave Leverkusen in the bottom half of the table and facing an uphill battle to secure European football for next season.

The 2002 Champions League runners-up look highly unlikely to be contesting the elite competition again next term unless Schmidt’s interim replacement, Tayfun Korkut, can inspire a huge improvement over the last couple of months of the campaign.

He needs to sort out the defence first and not only because of the debacle in Dortmund because Bayer also conceded four goals at home to Atletico, who claimed a very handy advantage thanks to contributions from Saul Niguez, Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres and a Kevin Gameiro penalty.

Karim Bellarabi and a Stefan Savic own goal kept Bayer in with some sort of a chance of pulling off an unlikely Barcelona-esque comeback in the Spanish capital.

But it would be unwise to think Atletico will throw away their chance of continuing their excellent Champions League record as they target a third appearance in the final within four years, especially with this being the only chance of silverware they still have this term.

Victory in Cardiff would be fitting considering how close Atletico went against their city rivals Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016, as well as this being their last season in the Vicente Calderon Stadium and coach Diego Simeone and star man Griezmann potentially moving on in the foreseeable future.


They may not be quite the same force in La Liga this time around, but Los Colchoneros have shown they should never be underestimated in the Champions League and while Korkut may derive some improvement in Bayer, a draw would be more than good enough for the hosts.

Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen stats

Four of the five previous meetings of these clubs have contained under 2.5 goals
Atletico have won their last seven two-leg ties against German opposition
Atletico are unbeaten in their last eight Champions League home matches

Recommended bets

Draw
Both teams to score