Will a Winning Streak Snap in This Champions League Meeting in Spain?

Atletico Madrid vs RB Leipzig

Two strong and sturdy European outfits will clash on Matchday 1 of the Champions League as three-time finalists Atletico Madrid will host perennial contenders RB Leipzig on Thursday at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid.

Both clubs are currently enjoying a good start to their season so far; Atletico are tied in second place with Real Madrid in Spain, whilst Leipzig are level-pegging with Borussia Dortmund for the number two spot in Germany.

Atletico and Leipzig also share one thing in common so far: both are still unbeaten.

The hosts—who are looking for a strong season after a subpar year last time around—have three wins and two draws in their first three La Liga games. As usual for a Diego Simeone-led squad, defence is the name of the game, and Los Colchoneros have already kept four clean sheets out of five matches played.

Meanwhile, the visitors will look for a win after they were held in a goalless affair by Union Berlin last week. Still, they remain a tough task to deal with, as shown with their huge win over Leverkusen.

 

Talking Points

Diego Simeone gives props to new boys

It was a busy summer window for the red and white side of Madrid. On one hand, Alvaro Morata and Joao Felix have left Simeone’s side. On the other hand, the club have signed Julian Alvarez, Conor Gallagher and Alexander Sorloth to bolster their attacking and midfield options.

All three were key pieces to their former squads last season, and Atletico fans are undoubtedly glad to have them playing for Los Colchoneros.

Sorloth was the first one to get on the board with a goal in the opening match against Villareal.

And to Simeone’s delight, Alvarez and Gallagher followed suit in their 3-0 win against Valencia yesterday.

The Englishman—a first scorer for the Spanish giants in 101 years—struck first in the 39^th minute after a neat pass from Rodrigo De Paul. Meanwhile, Alvarez had to wait until the dying moments of the match before he got his much-awaited goal.

After the dominant performance, the long-time Atletico manager was full of praise for the two.

“He came with a lot of enthusiasm, and we needed that kind of player in the midfield because he makes us better,” he said about Gallagher.

“We all needed him to score a goal, for him to be more relaxed, to be connected to what he likes … hopefully the goal will be the first of many,” he said about Alvarez.

 

Streak-busting Die Roten Bullen

After dominating German football last season, Bayer Leverkusen had a huge target in their backs coming into this year, with everyone out to break their domestic winning run.

It seemed as if they have a huge ‘bullseye’ marked on them every match.

Well, who better to hit that target than from the Red Bulls themselves, with the honour of being the streak-enders going to Leipzig after a huge come-from-behind win against the defending Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal champions.

Down by two goals away from home, Marco Rose’s side fought valiantly as they outplayed a seemingly invincible Leverkusen that left Xabi Alonso scratching his head in the end.

It was Kevin Kampl who pulled one back right before half-time, then it was Lois Openda who finished the job in the 57^th and 80^th minutes.

And with other weapons like Xavi Simons, Benjamin Sesko, Willi Orban and a whole lot more, Leipzig are extremely tough to deal with.

 

History

Atletico Madrid and RB Leipzig fans surely remember the 2019-2020 quarter-final meeting in Lisbon, where the latter advanced to their first-ever semi-final appearance as they beat the former 2-1.

It was also the first time both clubs met each other.

Obviously, Atletico have more success in the competition, with their two final meetings against Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016 the highlight of their UCL history so far.

Meanwhile, this will be Die Roten Bullen’s seventh time of playing in the tournament, having reached the knockout stages on four occasions.

 

Betting Tip

Whilst both sides are at the top of their game, I believe that Diego Simeone’s side are better suited to take the win. And the SBOTOP Champions League 2024 odds do agree with me, favouring Los Colchoneros at 1.78, with Leipzig billed as the underdogs at 3.90.

Meanwhile, a draw is priced at 3.90.

A match that’ll undoubtedly produce a bunch of Champions League 2024 highlights, and with Atletico being known as clean sheet experts with an eye for goals, correctly predicting a 2-0 win for the Madrid side is priced at 8.20.

I know, a long shot, but who knows?

   

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