Atalanta – Bayer Leverkusen is another round of 16 of the Europa League, which opposes a team coming from the Champions League and one that overcame the group stage of the second strongest European club tournament. The Italian team has shown serious qualities in recent seasons, but the lack of experience in Europe often plays a bad joke on them. European successes for the German giant are back in time, but certainly Bayer Leverkusen can not be written off in this elimination pair.
After finishing third in its Champions League group, Atalanta joined the Europa League in the quarter-finals. It did not start in the best way with a liability from Olympiacos in Bergamo. He lasted until 61 minutes, and within two minutes left-back Jimisti turned the score in favor of the “Blue and Black”. In the return match, Atalanta was far more convincing in the classic 3-0.
Bayer Leverkusen were on the verge of closing Group G without a loss, but already winning the first position, they relaxed in the last round and lost to Ferencvaros. A total of four successes were recorded by the Aspirins. They were achieved over Betis and Celtic. The Germans did a great job in attack with 14 goals scored, and only 5 were collected.
On Saturday, Atalanta lost their visit to Roma with 0: 1 and is already sixth in the Serie A standings. Lazio and Verona are very close, so the “Bergamas” are seriously threatened not to play in European club tournaments if they continue with poor results who have been recording lately. There are only three victories for Atalanta in the last ten official matches.
Bayer Leverkusen is aiming to return to the Champions League next season, which seems more likely to happen through a position in the Top 4 of the Bundesliga. On Saturday, the “Aspirins” finished 1: 1 as a guest of Bayern Munich, and this was another good match for them in the new year. In eight games since January, Bayer have shown excellent results, winning five and losing once.
Atalanta is a favorite in a very home, but does not demonstrate this on the field and even against the weaker teams in Italy does not stop drowning. Young Boys were minimally defeated in the Champions League, while Villarreal and Manchester United conceded five goals and scored one point. As a guest, Bayer Leverkusen defeated Celtic 4-0, and did not lose to Betis. The Aspirins often fluctuate on foreign soil, but this is more due to poor performance in defense. Both teams are able to offer us a real goal spectacle and I think they will.
