Following a 1-1 draw in France last week, it’s crunch time for two of the remaining four teams in this season’s UEFA Europa League.
On Thursday, Italian outfit Atalanta welcome French side Marseille to Bergamo, with the victor meeting Bayer Leverkusen or Roma in the final.
If you’re looking for stats, trends, analysis and mathematics-based football predictions, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to get the lowdown on the decisive second leg.
Non si ferma più 🏎#Scamacca just can't get enough 🍝#SalernitanaAtalanta #SerieA #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️🔵 pic.twitter.com/SuI6rp5XDC— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) May 7, 2024
Non si ferma più 🏎#Scamacca just can't get enough 🍝#SalernitanaAtalanta #SerieA #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️🔵 pic.twitter.com/SuI6rp5XDC
In the first leg, Gianluca Scamacca gave Atalanta the lead after just 11 minutes before Chancel Mbemba equalised midway through the first half.
La Dea can count themselves fortunate to have registered a draw in France, as a dominant Marseille outfit racked up 14 shots on home soil.
Atalanta head into the second leg on the back of a 2-1 victory over Salernitana, meaning they have won four of their last five matches across all competitions.
Better still, the Italians have only lost one of their 11 Europa League outings this season, booking their place in the semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate victory over Liverpool.
As for Marseille, they did not have a league game at the weekend, so they enter the second leg on the back of last week’s 1-1 draw with Atalanta.
OM suffered five consecutive defeats between mid-March and mid-April, they have since notched a five-game unbeaten run of two wins and three draws.
It would not be unfair to say that Marseille have struggled for consistency of late, recording three wins, two draws and three losses in their last eight Europa League clashes.
It is also worth noting that OM have managed to win just one of their six away games in the Europa League this season, losing three of the previous four.
Head-to-head: Atalanta and Marseille met for the very first time last week, meaning neither side has the upper hand in the H2H statistics.
Interestingly, both teams registered a pass accuracy of 77% in the first leg, although Marseille racked up 11 corners to Atalanta’s one.
Team news: The hosts are expected to be without the injured trio of Emil Holm (calf), Sead Kolasinac (muscle) and Rafael Toloi (calf) for the second leg.
The visitors also have three injury absentees, with Bilal Nadir (knee), Valentin Rongier (knee) and Pedro Ruiz (knee) missing the trip to Italy.
If the previous meeting is anything to go by, the second leg will likely be a close-fought battle between two evenly-matched teams.
Forebet predicts that Atalanta and Marseille will play out another low-scoring draw, sending the contest into extra time.