Atletico to win in clash of the third placed clubs
It is Germany versus Spain as Leipzig host Atletico on Thursday in another titan clash of Champions League football. Can the Bundesliga side get past experienced opposition? Have a read of our preview here:
RB Leipzig’s missed opportunity
It is hard to see RB Leipzig getting a better chance at winning a title after a great season domestically came to a frustrating end.
Leipzig slipped away after lockdown to finish third, a whopping 16 points behind champions Bayern Munich.
They really should have pushed the Bavarians closer but a host of draws saw their progress stumble and finish behind both Bayern and Dortmund.
There is no denying they have one of world football’s best coaches in Julian Nagelsmann, and he will need to provide some complex answers if his side are to beat Diego Simone’s Atletico.
In a strange twist of fate, the Spanish side also finished third in their domestic league with a 17 point gap between them and champions Real Madrid.
With Timo Werner joining Chelsea, RB will be without a key attacking player and will have to fall back on Patrick Schick and Marcel Sabitzer who combined for 19 goals in the Bundesliga this season – nine less than Werner managed on his own.
It will be a tough ask for the Germans and will need a bit of Nagelsmann magic to help them through.
Best of the rest again for Atletico
Atletico ended the La Liga season in a familiar position, behind only Real Madrid and Barcelona. They are used to being the best of the rest in Spain and continued that again this season, finishing above Sevilla on goal difference.
In the Champions League, they pulled off one of the shock results of the tournament this year by beating Jurgen klopp’s Liverpool over two legs.
They beat them 1-0 in the first game and then saw them off in extra time, winning 3-2 and 4-2 on aggregate.
That result will give the team huge confidence and there is not much doubt that Liverpool are one of, if not the, best team in world football right now.
Key players remain Thomas Partey and Saul Niguez who could be the difference between progress and not on Thursday.
RB Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid betting tip
RB Leipzig have some talented players but they have lost their momentum and a key attacking talent in Timo Werner. That is why we are backing Atletico to win at odds of 2.3 with 888sport on Thursday.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
Leipzig progressed as Atletico failed to offer much ambition in a poor performance