Bayer Leverkusen – Atletico Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen since December, have won just twice in 10 matches in all competitions, with three defeats and five draws. They’ve also gone three straight without a win, conceding nine goals in the process.
That shaky defense won’t be helped by the suspension of first-choice central defender Omer Toprak and the possible absence of top defensive midfielder Lars Bender, who is doubtful with a knee injury, in the first leg.
Leverkusen drew 2-2 with Augsburg on Saturday,they have found it difficult to put matches to bed in the top flight this term, drawing nine and losing five of their 22 matches so far.
The team have Heung-Min Son, the team’s leading Champions League scorer with three goals, recorded a hat-trick in their incredible 5-4 shootout loss to Wolfsburg on Valentine’s Day, while Karim Bellarabi (nine goals, five assists in the Bundesliga), Hakan Calhanoglu, Josip Drmic and Stefan Kiessling (off the bench) are all capable of getting a goal.
They were forced to settle for a point at Augsburg at the weekend after Marwin Hitz’s late equaliser.
Tonight will not be on the field, Omer Toprak who is suspended ,Lars Bender is a doubt,Josip Drmic may spearhead the attack after netting at the weekend, meaning Stefan Kießling would be forced to settle for a place on the bench.
Aggressiveness has been the name of the game for Leverkusen this season, and don’t expect them to change now. The home leg will be their best chance to beat Atletico, so look for them to come out and blitz the Spaniards right from the first whistle. However, it could be tough for them to sustain that frenetic pace without fading in the end.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone made a big mistake by splitting up the incredibly prolific strike partnership of Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann, and he paid for it with a 2-0 defeat.
The Goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya is confident that Atletico Madrid could secure a great result in the first leg of their Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen, Moya says that :
“The Champions League is always special…They’re a German club and it will be a difficult match. They have not had a great time of things in the Bundesliga this season, but I think they are starting to turn things around. We will go there with the utmost respect, but also with the maximum desire to pick up the positive result that will give us an advantage.”
Atletico utilize the same intense pressing style as Leverkusen, one which they used to great success in their run to the Champions League final last season. Simeone has drilled his Atletico team on the nuances of this style for countless hours in training, so they should be well prepared to play against it in Germany.
It is important to know that Atletico are undefeated in 18 of their last 19 matches in the Champions League (including qualifiers).
Al Ahli Dubai (Uae) – Al Ahli SC (Sau)
Today at 18:25 in Asia AFC Champions League, Al Ahli Dubai (Uae) will met Al Ahli SC (Sau) in a very tough match that promised a lot of goals. As you can assume the favorite of the match is Al Ahli SC (Sau), one of the best soccer team Saudi Arabia.
The two teams met last time in Octobet 2002 , and the result was a draw (2-2), in the first round, Al Ahli Dubai won 3-2.
Al Ahli Dubai is crossing a difficult period in UAE,they are coming after two defeats a draw and two victories. This season, they lost a very important match with Al Wasl (0-4), and they were also defeated by Al Shabab(1-0). The last victory was with three weeks ago, so they have not a good moral and the attack is not a strong one.
By the other side, Al Ahli SC (Sau) are undefeated in their last 5 matches in all competitions. They are leader in Saudi Arabia.
We expect that Al Ahli will try to put pressure on Al Ahli Dubai from the outset.
