Bayer Leverkusen v Atalanta Betting Tips [17 March 2022]

The Europa League round of 16 second leg sees Bayer Leverkusen returning to the BayArena looking to overturn a 3-2 aggregate deficit when they take on the Serie A’s Atalanta on Thursday. The hosts are coming into this match after a string of poor results, culminating in a 1-0 home loss to Koln despite dominating the game and creating four clear cut opportunities. Leverkusen have now only won one of their last five and have seen their lead over Leipzig, Freiburg and Hoffenheim shrink to only one point. Die Werkself currently sit third in the Bundesliga and trail second place Dortmund by eight points. On the other side of the field, Atalanta have been in decent form - winning three, drawing one and losing one in their last five matches. La Dea will come into this match not having to worry about the away goals rule, as UEFA controversially eliminated the qualification for this season’s competitions. A win or a draw sends them through while a one goal loss of any score will send the game to extra time.

Bayer Leverkusen were dealt a huge blow on the weekend as 18-year-old wonderkid Florian Wirtz suffered a grave injury that will likely rule him out for the rest of the season. Coupled with leading scorer Patrik Schick still not ready to return and Leverkusen have lost a lot of their attacking potency. However, they do possess a deep squad and should still be able to find the net. Whether or not it will be enough to overturn the aggregate scoreline remains to be seen. The visiting Atalanta come into this match after a 0-0 home draw against Genoa but will be encouraged by their overall away form this season. La Dea have won an impressive nine of their 14 Serie A away matches this season, giving them the third best away record in the division. This shapes up to be another exciting encounter as both teams prefer a high-tempo, attacking style of play.

We’re going to back Atalanta on the double chance as our pick for this match. This is a good price for a team that is more than capable of winning the match outright but would definitely settle for a draw that would put them through. With both teams missing some key attacking pieces, the overall depth of this Atalanta side should be enough to see them through to the quarterfinals.