Do the Nerazzurri finish the job in Leverkusen?
After the 2:3 defeat in Lombardy, things did not go well for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga at the weekend either. With 0:1 the Werkself lost the Rhineland derby at home against 1. FC Köln, in which, moreover, Florian Wirtz was seriously injured. Accordingly, the Rhinelanders now go into the second leg needing a home win against Atalanta Bergamo.
The goal-hungry Nerazzurri couldn’t get past a 0-0 draw against Genoa CFC in league action at the weekend. Internationally, however, the Lombards have scored a total of ten goals in their last four away games. Nevertheless, ahead of the second leg between Leverkusen and Atalanta Bergamo, the odds are swinging slightly in the direction of the Werkself.
Bayer Leverkusen needs the home win and will have to go on the offensive accordingly. However, Atalanta is not a team that stands in the back. The DNA of the Lombards includes an uncompromising offensive game, so the likelihood that there will be many goals in the second leg is very high.
Due to the starting position of Leverkusen against Atalanta Bergamo, we see the greatest value in betting on the Italians to advance, which is why we combine the double chance X2 with the bet on over 1.5 goals.
Leverkusen – statistics & current form
Bayer Leverkusen is currently participating in the knockout round of the Europa League for the seventh time in the club’s history. No other Bundesliga club has been represented here so often, which is also due to the fact that the Werkself has never failed in the group stage of this competition so far.
However, after taking 13 of a possible 15 points from their first five group games, there have been two defeats in a row for the Rhinelanders of late, first losing away at Ferencvaros Budapest on the sixth matchday of the preliminary round before the first leg of the round of 16 in Lombardy also brought a 2:3 defeat.
Won 17 of the 25 Europa League home games so far
It will now come down to the home strength of the Werkself, who have won 17 of their 25 Europa League games at the BayArena so far (five draws, three defeats).
In addition, the Rhinelanders have already proven in the past that they can still turn around a knockout match. Leverkusen has already lost the first leg away from home in a UEFA competition eight times in the club’s history. In four of the eight cases, Bayer 04 still advanced with a win in the second leg at home.
Won only five of 22 competitive matches against Italian clubs
Problematic, nevertheless, is that Gerardo Seoane’s eleven was unable to show any reaction to the lost Europa League match at the weekend. Instead of securing the necessary self-confidence for the second leg in the Rhineland derby, there was a 0:1 home defeat against arch-rival Cologne, in which, to make matters worse, Florian Wirtz was injured.
Nevertheless, bettors still give the Werkself basic chances of winning at home.
Predicted lineup of Leverkusen:
Hradecky – Bakker – Tapsoba – Tah – Frimpong – Palacios – Aránguiz – Adli – Azmoun – Diaby – Alario
Last matches played by Leverkusen:
Bundesliga
03/13 2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 1 1. FC Cologne
Europa League Final Stage
03/10 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 3 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Bundesliga
03/05 2022 – Bayern Munich 1 – 1 Bayer Leverkusen
02/26 2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 3 – 0 Arminia Bielefeld
02/18 2022 – Mainz 05 3 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Atalanta Bergamo – Statistics & current form
Atalanta Bergamo qualified as third in Serie A initially for the Champions League, in which, however, the Nerazzurri failed as a group third in the preliminary round and were relegated to the Europa League.
“La Dea” therefore also initially had to compete in the intermediate round, which today’s hosts from Leverkusen were able to save as Europa League group winners. However, with two wins against Olympiakos Piraeus, the Lombards had no trouble punching their ticket to the round of 16 with 5:1 goals.
Ten goals in four international away games
The Bergamo side also ended a four-game international winless drought (two draws, two defeats) with a 3-0 win away in Greece.
However, although Gian Piero Gasperini’s side picked up just two of a possible nine points away from home in this year’s Champions League preliminary round, the Italians have been consistently prolific away from home. In the four European away games of the 2021/22 season, the Orobici scored a total of ten goals.
In three of four cases, the home win in the first leg was enough
Apartly because the Nerazzurri only know one direction and fully rely on the offense in every competitive match, the betting on a high-scoring second leg at Leverkusen against Atalanta Bergamo is under very favorable omens.
Thereby, the chances are also good that the northern Italians will finish the job and snatch the ticket for the quarterfinals. Not only is the current seventh-placed team in Serie A likely to qualify for the Champions League again only by winning the Europa League overall. The record also speaks for “La Dea”. In three of four cases, the Lombards advanced one round after winning the first leg at home.
Predicted lineup of Atalanta Bergamo:
Musso – Zappacosta – Djimsiti – Demiral – Tolói – Hateboer – Freuler – de Roon – Koopmeiners – Muriel – Maninovskyi
Last matches played by Atalanta Bergamo:
Serie A
03/13 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 0 – 0 CFC Genoa
Europa League Final Stage
03/10 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 3 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Serie A
03/05 2022 – AS Roma 1 – 0 Atalanta Bergamo
02/28 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 4 – 0 Sampdoria Genoa
Europa League Final Stage
02/24 2022 – Olympiakos Piraeus 0 – 3 Atalanta Bergamo
Leverkusen – Atalanta Bergamo Direct comparison / H2H balance
Head to head: 0 – 0 – 1
Last Thursday’s first leg, in which Atalanta Bergamo prevailed 3-2 at home, was the only competitive match between the two teams to date.
Leverkusen – Atalanta Bergamo tip
For Leverkusen against Atalanta Bergamo, the prediction tends to go to the guests, who will probably not rest on their first leg victory in the BayArena, but should again be very offensive. Accordingly, it could be hot between the two teams, especially since the Werkself has won 17 of their previous 25 Europa League home games and is quite strong at home.
It should be noted, however, that the Nerazzurri have advanced one round in three of the last four after winning the first leg at home. In addition, the Rhinelanders have only won five of their 22 international competitive matches against Italian teams.
