I bet you the big play is Atletico Madrid. I like it too
I mean, I like them. They are way better. But, they have a lot of carry over absences to this 2nd leg. No gabi, no Luis, no Gamiero, Torres available but hasn't played since his scary injury. A lot to fill in. So they aren't at full force, and with a comfortable lead I expect them to still look good, but not sure if they will be at their best. Gamiero is amazing. What he did in that first leg was dominance. These two played in this round two years ago and both games finished 0-0 draws and went into a penalty shootout which Atletico won. But, this Atletico team has come so far in two years. They are no longer that scrappy dog that has to scrap and claw for everything. They are more of a heavyweight now with the ranks of the top based on their talent and coming of age.
Do I expect Atletico to win even if they don't have to? Yeah I do. But, I'm not a big fan of laying goal lines with Atletico in the CL. They could very well still cover, not putting it past them.
Atletico go into this 2nd leg with plans for the quarter finals. Bayer leverkusen has to score 3 goals without Atletico scoring any. That clearly wont happen, but there is room for error. Plus with a couple of usual players out of Atletico's lineup I think a lot of things are possible here.
If Simeone had a 3 goal lead two years ago there is no question he is sitting back and playing for a 1-0 home win. But transitioning into a heavyweight side now, I don't see that. The situation IMO makes sense here for Atletico to let up a bit. With a big La Liga game coming this weekend vs Sevilla, Atletico I think know this shit is a wrap if they score once today and then they can relax a bit.
Leverkusen couldn't hang with Gamiero, there's no Gamiero today. Correra is fast but a lot less physical than Gamiero. That's a confidence booster for Leverkusen to not have to deal with and maybe to focus more on attacking.
I think the clear obvious thing here is to say Atletico leads comfortably and will defend their home turf. But, they have been atrocious at home defending this year. It would be asinine for Simeone to attempt to park the bus and only worry about defending here. I think this is an open game with not as many goals as the first leg but still enough chances for each team to net one. Leverkusen is starting Volland and Hernandez. Both likely goal scorers. and Kampl who is the creative one along with Karim Bellarbi. All possible goal scorers and Atletico has many, even short sided. They have a ton of capable players who can net a goal. I think Carrassco scores today personally.
I leaned 2-1 exacto atletico, might play it small.
Both teams to score -125
big play
GL