Atletico’s road to make it to a third Champions League final in four years continues on Wednesday night, when they host England’s sole representatives in the quarter finals Leicester. Atletico have a unique ability to perform in European competition, despite going through poor spells domestically.
Leicester meanwhile, fought back in the second leg of their round of 16 tie to defeat Sevilla on aggregate. However, that round will forever be known for the departure of Claudio Ranieri after the first leg. The Foxes have since undergone a transformation under caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare. Shakespeare had guided the team to six straight victories; however they suffered defeat to Everton on Sunday.
Atletico’s most recent Champions League finals appearances have both come against Real Madrid and both ended in defeat. However, they played their city rivals on Saturday, with the scoreline finishing 1-1. This draw extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions, although only five of those have ended in victory. The number of draws achieved by Diego Simeone’s side means that they’ve slipped down to third in La Liga, placing more emphasis on the Champions League. They topped their group, which also included Bayern Munich and saw off Bayer Leverkusen in the last round.
Atletico Madrid vs. Leicester City Predictions
This match pits two teams against each other with very similar styles, but Atletico have superior players and ability in their squad. Many would want Leicester’s fairy tale run to continue, but you can’t see them getting past this Atletico side. Team spirit will only take them so far and this will unfortunately be the end of their Champions League dream.
Atletico Madrid vs. Leicester City Betting Tips
- Atletico Madrid to win: 5/18
- Draw: 9/2
- Leicester to win: 11/1
- Jamie Vardy to score anytime: 7/2
- Antoine Griezmann to score first: 23/10
Head to Head
- Atletico Madrid and Leicester are meeting for the third time in a European tie in history. Atletico qualified on the previous two occasions back in the 1961/62 Cup Winners Cup and the 1997/98 UEFA Cup.
- Atletico have won six of their eight Champions League games this season (D1 L1). No team has won more games.
- Atletico Madrid have won 16 of their 21 Champions League home games under Diego Simeone (D4 L1), their only defeat coming against Benfica in September 2015 (1-2). They are unbeaten in the knockout stages (W5 D4).
- Atletico have kept a clean sheet in 15 of their last 17 Champions League games at home.
- Leicester have won only one of their four away games in the Champions League this season (D1 L2), against Brugge (3-0).
- Leicester are the lowest scoring side in the Champions League among the eight teams left in this season’s competition (10 goals in 8 games).
Atletico Madrid Team News
Miguel Moya, Sime Vrsaljko, Nico Gaitan, Tiago, August Fernandez and Kevin Gameiro are all expected to miss the first leg against Leicester.
Leicester City Team News
Wes Morgan didn’t feature against Everton on Sunday and is a doubt for this clash. Nampalys Mendy, Molla Wague and Wilfried Ndidi are all expected to miss out.