Europa League: Schick-less Leverkusen Look to Shock Atalanta

Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen will have to take on Atalanta away from home in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie with one key absentee. Star striker Patrik Schick will once again be unavailable due to a calf injury, which will leave the Germans without their main goal threat.

The Europa League 2022 betting odds have La Dea favoured to win the first leg at home over the Germans.

However, Leverkusen have fared quite well in the Europa League without Schick, which should give them confidence against an Atalanta side that will also be without some key attackers.

Talking Points

La Dea still a little light up front

Atalanta suffered a 1-0 loss in their big Serie A showdown away to Roma over the weekend. The defeat saw Roma leapfrog La Dea for fifth spot, although Atalanta still have a game in hand.

After scoring seven goals in their previous two games, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side struggled to create too many chances against the Giallorossi. With top scorer Duvan Zapata and veteran Josip Ilicic still unavailable, Gasperini again turned to the likes of Alexey Miranchuk and Mario Pasalic to spearhead the attack. 

Ruslan Malinovskyi, who has also been used as the lead forward recently, only came on as a substitute against Roma. Malinovskyi bagged a brace in Atalanta’s 3-0 second leg win against Olympiacos in the Europa League play-offs. The 28-year-old Ukrainian has three goals in Europe this season, which is tied with Zapata for the team lead, so he will be a strong contender to start against Leverkusen.

Although, Luis Muriel finally made his return against Roma and played the entire second half, so Gasperini will have another option to turn to.

Wing-back Davide Zappacosta had to come off early in the first half against Roma due to injury and is a doubt to play. But centre-back and club captain Rafael Toloi is set to return after serving out a suspension, which should be a nice boost to the backline.

Leverkusen still without injured Schick

Bayer Leverkusen will head into the first leg at the Stadio di Bergamo without their biggest offensive weapon. Top striker Patrik Schick will miss the first leg as he remains out with a calf injury. Schick’s absence is obviously huge. He is by far the team’s leading scorer with 20 goals this season and has been crucial to much of their success in the Bundesliga.

However, Leverkusen have fared fairly well without the Czech target man in the last two games they’ve played without him. After thrashing Arminia Bielefeld 3-0 at home, they then held Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena.

Lucas Alario, who started in place of Schick, gave Leverkusen an early lead against Bielefeld before Moussa Diaby sealed the win with a second-half brace.

But Leverkusen coach Gerardo Seoane opted to play teenager Florian Wirtz as a false nine against Bayern, with Diaby and Amine Adli in support. Adli had a strong game with five shots, including one that hit the woodwork, as well as three shot-creating actions.

Leverkusen also had a lot of success playing in the Europa League without Schick, who didn’t make a single start in the group stage. Wirtz flourished and provided plenty of Europa League 2022 highlights as the focal point of the Leverkusen attack as he had three goals and three assists. Leverkusen won Group G with four wins in six games.

History

This will be first-ever meeting between Atalanta and Leverkusen in European competition.

Atalanta have faced German opposition just four times in their history, with one win, one loss, and two draws.

Meanwhile, Leverkusen have a poor record against Italian clubs. They’ve won just one of their last 10 matches against them in Europe, with three draws and six losses.

Betting Tip 

SBOTOP odds have Atalanta installed as 1.96 favourites to win the first leg at home. Leverkusen are priced at 3.65, while the draw is at 3.40.

While Schick’s absence is significant, Leverkusen have shown that they can be still quite competitive in Europe without their star centre-forward.

I expect the likes of Wirtz, Diaby, and Adli to give the home side’s defence some problems. And while it might be too much to ask this young Leverkusen side to get an away win, they are more than capable of getting a draw as they head to Germany for the second leg.

 

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