On Wednesday night Atletico Madrid host Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of the Champions League last-16. Diego Simeone’s side recorded a 4-2 win in the first leg at the Bay Arena and are heavy favourites to book their place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite competition.
The men from the Spanish capital have returned to form of late, winning six of their last nine games in all competitions. In fact, the only team to have beaten Atletico in the last 15 outings in all competitions is Barcelona, who defeated Atleti at the Vicente Calderon in both the Copa del Rey and La Liga.
Los Rojiblancos have recorded wins in their last two games against Valencia and Granada. The home side also have a very good recent record in the Champions League, having won six of their last seven games in Europe’s elite competition.
They have won seven of their last eight home games in the Champions League in normal time. Incredibly, Atletico’s last eight home games in this competition have produced under 2.5 goals. This record has been influenced by the fact that Atletico have conceded just one goal in their last eight European games at the Calderon.
Since losing the first leg, Bayer Leverkusen have replaced Roger Schmidt with Turkish boss Tayfun Korkut. Bayer have failed to win in their last four games in all competitions, losing three times in the process.
In Korkut’s first game in charge, Bayer drew 1-1 with struggling Werder Bremen last time out, which was not a great start to life under Korkut. Bayer’s record in the Champions League has been mixed of late, but the German side have drawn six of their last nine outings in Europe’s elite competition.
Forebet predicts that Atletico will have little problem in beating the German visitors and ease into the last eight of the Champions League.