On Tuesday, starting with 17:55, the match Lokomotiv – Leverkusen will be played, within the phase of the Champions League groups, Group D, 2019/2020 edition. The game won in the 2-1 Russian Tour on BayArena is the only previous direct meeting. The 3 points are also the only ones obtained by Lokomotiv in the current edition, and Leverkusen can continue the qualifying fight only if he avoids defeat.
Lokomotiv is still living on the success of the tour, 2-1 on BayArena, thanks to the successes of Krychowiak and Barinovic. Most likely, the Russians will fight Leverkusen for 3rd place in the group, leading to the “spring” Europa League. The distance from the first two rankings is considerable, Juventus already having 10 points, and Atletico Madrid is at “elevation” 7. Lokomotiv has 3 former players from Bundesliga, Howedes, Corluka and Farfan, but the Peruvian is announced unavailable. The Moscow group comes after a 3-2 success at Tambov, which holds it in second place in the Russian Premier League, 5 points away from the leader Zenit Saint Petersburg.
On the other hand, Leverkusen has an excellent morale after having achieved the first points in the group stage. The Germans defeated Atletico Madrid on their own ground in the last round, score 2-1, and a defeat in Moscow ends their chances at the Champions League. Like Lokomotiv, Leverkusen has only 3 points in the standings, but can look with optimism the last match in groups, with already qualified Juventus. “Aspirinele” will play the 100th match in the Champions League, and on the weekend they drew with Freiburg, score 1-1 on their own in the Bundesliga.
Leverkusen have not scored in just 5 matches in all competitions this season, and Lokomotiv will try to take advantage of the counterattack. It proved a winning tactic in the round, and the Russians will aim to do similar damage. Even if in the tour, Lokomotiv had 31% possession of the ball, in Russia there will be other dates of the problem. For example, with Juventus he managed 36% possession, against a coach “obsessed” with this phase of the game, Maurizio Sarri. The tip “over 35.5% Lokomotiv possession” is to be tried, as Leverkusen is not an “ultra” dominant dominant movement.
Probable teams
Locomotives: Guilherme – Ignatjev, Höwedes, Corluka (c), Rybus – Barinov, Kyrchowiak – Miranchuk, Kolomeytsev, Miranchuk – Eder
Absent: Djordjevic, Farfan, Rotenberg
Coach: Yuri Semin
Leverkusen: Hradecky – L. Bender (c), Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Aranguiz, Baumgartlinger – Bellarabi, Demirbay, Diaby – Volland
Absent: Amiri, Havertz, Pohjanpalo, Weiser
Coach: Peter Bosz
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,67
