Atalanta will welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Gewiss Stadium this Thursday night as the two clubs meet in arguably the tie of the round in the Europa League with the two-legged affair set to be extremely close.
Both sides have had relatively similar seasons in their domestic leagues with Leverkusen racking up 45 points from 25 games so far this season, just as the Bergamo side have gained 47 from their 27 fixtures in Serie A so far.
Entriamo in una nuova settimana europea! 🇪🇺#UEL RO16 coming 🔜! 🙌⭐️#MondayMotivation 💪 #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️🔵 pic.twitter.com/RauGBr0QjL— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) March 7, 2022
Entriamo in una nuova settimana europea! 🇪🇺#UEL RO16 coming 🔜! 🙌⭐️#MondayMotivation 💪 #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️🔵 pic.twitter.com/RauGBr0QjL
Ther German outfit are, however, sitting in third in the Bundesliga in what is turning out to be one of their best seasons in the last 20 years, and they are doing all of this after losing key men in recent times like Kai Havertz.
Patrik Schick is the man these days for Bayer Leverkusen, and he has carried on his stunning form shown in the 2020/21 campaign that also saw him bag the Euro 2020 Golden Boot.
The striker is the closest thing to threatening Robert Lewandowski this campaign, with an incredible 20 goals from 20 games so far in the league.
The Czech Republic man hasn't been the only man scoring for Leverkusen though, as the club have scored 64 times in the league and made easy work of their Europa League group by finishing with four wins from six games and scoring 14 goals in the process - only Napoli and Lyon bagged more.
Atalanta, on the other hand, remain one of Italy’s top scorers but they have taken an almighty drop this season down the table and in the goalscoring department. As of now, they’ve netted only 50 times in 27 games, which is far away from where they usually operate.
At the same time, the club are fifth in Serie A and trail fourth-placed Juventus by six points following on from their 1-0 loss to Roma, which also brought them back onto the same points as Atalanta in the race for the Champions League.
Atalanta did ease into this knockout round though after their exit from the Champions League via a third-placed finish in their group. Gian Piero Gasperini's men thrashed Olympiacos 5-1 on aggregate in the play-off round, which also included a 3-0 thumping over in Greece.
With the form of both sides and the attacking intent they bring, it’s set to live up to the billing and Forebet predicts a very close game but a high-scoring one too, as Forebet predicts the game to see over 2.5 goals and a draw.