The last 16 of the Champions League has seen a few familiar match-ups (PSG v Barcelona, Bayern v Arsenal) and this match sees another in the same vein as Bayer Leverkusen welcome Atletico Madrid to the BayArena on Tuesday night. These two teams faced each other at the same stage of the same competition in the 2015/16 season and it took penalties to separate them on that occasion.
Bayer have not been in great form this season under manager Roger Schmidt and his position has been the cause of much debate at times this season. With his side currently in 7th place in the Bundesliga he’s got a bit of work on to see his side feature in this competition next season and missing out may well cost him his job.
Diego Simeone has also seen his side underperform in the league but they can still finish in the top 3 in La Liga and their history in the Champions League indicates that they will be a match for most sides.
There are injury/disciplinary problems for both sides and the first leg is going to see some important players missing. Bayer Leverkusen will be without centre-back Jonathan Tah who has been a big player for them this season and they will also be without Hakan Calhanoglu who is banned for the rest of the season. Atletico Madrid are the hardest hit for this game as Jan Oblak, Diego Godin and Juanfran are all likely to miss this game.
Atletico Madrid doesn\’t have the deepest squad in the competition and their back-ups are not of the same quality so this could open the game up quite a bit. The last time these two met we saw two very tight games and a more attacking match would be appreciated, however unlikely it may be.
I’m staying away from the Match Odds market as I feel this is a bit of a minefield. Atletico Madrid are the better side but their list of absent players gives me concern and I’m prepared to stay away from this one. The Over/Under market does look a bit more interesting at green listed bookmakers as both sides will have their best attackers out on display but be missing crucial players at the back. Over 2.5 is available at 2.49 with 5Dimes and that is a very tempting option. If you wanted to play things a little closer to the chest then maybe the Both Teams To Score (Yes) market is the option for you. 2.05 is on offer from William Hill and that’s not a bad choice either.
With home advantage and players missing for the opposition Bayer Leverkusen isn\’t going to get a better opportunity to put themselves in a good position for the second leg. If they decide to go for it then we could see goals, holding back may end up costing them when Oblak et al return in the second leg.
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