Both Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen come into this matchup in the Champions League having won just one of their first four games in Group B. The outcome of this matchup will have a significant impact on the outcome of the group.
The German visitors maintained their dismal start to the season with a 1-1 draw against Wolfsburg. The home team, on the other hand, achieved a stunning win in LaLiga against Real Betis in their most recent match.
Our Match Preview: Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen
Group B’s biggest surprise, Club Brugge, is already out of reach at the top, leaving Porto, Atletico Madrid, and Bayer Leverkusen to battle it out for the second and last position in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
After a 3-0 victory away at Leverkusen, the Portuguese team now has six points, two more than Diego Simeone’s team, who have four, and three more than Xabi Alonso’s team, who have only one point on the season thanks to a victory against Atletico in September.
Only a victory on Wednesday at the Civitas Metropolitano will do for both teams; after this match, Porto will have only one more game to catch them before they are officially eliminated from contention, so they will be traveling to Bruges to try to take advantage of the early qualification of the Belgian league leaders.
Despite the enthusiastic backing of their home crowd, Los Colchoneros were unable to score against Carl Hoefkens’s team in Madrid two weeks ago, playing to a disappointing 2-2 stalemate. They attempted 21 attempts on goal and had 2.33 anticipated goals.
However, the Spanish team’s confidence should be boosted by their weekend success at the Benito Villamarin, when they defeated a Betis team who had a perfect record in front of their home supporters coming into the game.
After scoring immediately off a corner kick to maintain his stunning run, Antoine Griezmann scored again 17 minutes later to earn a huge three points for Atletico in their domestic campaign.
Los Rojiblancos will feel confident in their ability to win with their star striker on fire and the support of 68,000 Madrilenian fans.
On the other side, Bayer Leverkusen is currently unable to establish any form of consistency, having lost 10 of its 18 games across all competitions so far this season.
Die Werkself, coming off a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt, missed a penalty, hit the woodwork, and scored a horror own-goal in a 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg on the weekend, in a game that encapsulated the brilliant best and woeful worst of a talented team that somehow finds itself 15th in the Bundesliga.
The German team has also struggled in the Champions League, finishing last in their group after suffering 2-0 and 3-0 losses to Porto in Portugal and West Germany, respectively.
Xabi Alonso’s tenure as manager has been hampered by Florian Wirtz’s long-term injury, but he’ll be hoping his youthful squad can find their form again in Spain and pull off a stunning shock in the Spanish city.
Our Team News: Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen
Even though Thomas Lemar, Koke, and Marcos Llorente are all still sidelined with thigh injuries, it does not appear that Atletico Madrid has any other injury concerns at this time. After a busy few months in the treatment room, there do not appear to be any additional injury worries for the club.
After suffering a head injury two weeks ago, goalkeeper Jan Oblak made his comeback to the starting lineup on Sunday against Real Betis. He will continue to play in goal behind what should be a back four as the team moves forward.
After a more encouraging cameo performance over the weekend from the Portuguese teenager, Joao Felix will remain on the bench. Up forward, Alvaro Morata is expected to partner with Antoine Griezmann, while Joao Felix will remain on the bench.
The injuries have also proved unlucky for the away team this season, although Wirtz is getting closer to making a comeback after rupturing his cruciate ligament back in March.
Forwards Karim Bellarabi and Sardar Azmoun, as well as enforcer Exequiel Palacios, who plays in the middle of the field, can’t play because they have hamstring injuries.
The main man up front, Patrik Schick, was not able to play against Wolfsburg last weekend because of a problem with his adductors. However, there is reason to believe that the Czech international will be able to play this match since his absence on Saturday was seen as a precaution.
- Atletico Madrid Possible Starting Lineup Options: Reinildo, Savic, Gimenez, Molina, Carrasco, Kondogbia, Witsel, Oblak, Correa, Morata, Griezmann.
- Bayer Leverkusen Possible Starting Lineup: Hradecky, Bakker, Hincapie, Tah, Tapsoba, Frimpong, Andrich, Demirbay, Diaby, Schick, Hudson-Odoi.
Our Prediction: Atletico Madrid 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Because this match is a winner-take-all contest between two excellent teams, we anticipate that it will be an intriguing game.
The away team will provide a threat on the break thanks to players like Moussa Diaby, but we believe that Simeone’s side should have enough talent to pull off a very important victory.