In the first leg seven days ago, both Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen justified the tag of one of the most attractive matchups in the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League by providing a five-goal thriller in Bergamo with kickoff at 8:45 pm.
In a match filled with both exciting plays and errors, Atalanta and Italy prevailed over Russia and Cote d’Ivoire, 3-2. While the Italians deservedly came on top, the Russians could have easily bagged a couple more goals on the occasion as they dominated the pitch throughout the majority of the game.
However, La Dea failed to back up this win with a strong performance in the domestic league, drawing 0-0 at home to Genoa on Sunday. Meanwhile, Gianpiero Gasperini’s men have won only one of the last eight Serie A outings and are now eight points behind fourth-placed Juventus.
Atalanta will fancy their chances in this one, knowing that Bayer also played poorly in a surprising home loss to Cologne (0-1) last weekend.
Head coach Gerardo Seoane faces a conundrum because two of his first-team regulars—Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong—got injured in Saturday’s away match against FC Cologne. Their absence is bound to be felt on Thursday.
Bayer were outplayed in the first leg, and they didn’t look good in their weekend game against FC Cologne either.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Atalanta Head to Head
Both sides have one game against each other with visitors taking one win while hosts remaining winless. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 FC Koln
- Atalanta 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen
- Bayer Munich 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
- Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Arminia Biefeld
- Mainz 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Away
- Atalanta 0-0 Genoa
- Atalanta 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen
- Roma 1-0 Atalanta
- Atalanta 4-0 Sampdoria
- Olympiacos 0-3 Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen Team News
Schick is still lacking match practice, so he’s not going to be considered. Furthermore, Florian Wirtz can’t be expected to play due to an ongoing knee injury. It’s a huge blow for Bayer Leverkusen.
Atalanta Team News
Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic are missing for Atalanta, while Aleksey Miranchuk was absent from training on Monday so he is a doubt.
Prediction and Odds
Neither of these teams will enter this important match on a high, but we like Atalanta’s chances of getting another victory over Leverkusen.
- Atalanta to Win
- Both Teams to Score
- Goals Over 2.5
