Bayer Leverkusen resumes their UEFA Champions League campaign on Tuesday with a high-profile match against old rivals Atlético Madrid, and bundesliga.com identifies five reasons why the defending Bundesliga champions will triumph as they seek qualification for the Round of 16 in the Spanish capital.
1) Excellent run of results
Both teams have been winning in all competitions recently, but it was Atlético who blinked first last weekend, suffering a surprise defeat at lowly Leganés, snapping Diego Simeone’s side’s 15-game winning streak and sowing doubt ahead of Tuesday’s match.
There was no such slip-up at Bayer 04, which extended their winning streak to 11 games with an easy victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach.
With the Werkself also unbeaten in 25 Bundesliga away games before hitting the road to Madrid, the midweek visitors shade this one on current form.
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2) Beware of Wirtz and Schick.
There’s no stopping these two this season, and any victory over Atlético will almost certainly be attributed to one or both of them. Leverkusen scored three goals against Gladbach this weekend, with Florian Wirtz scoring twice and assisting teammate Patrik Schick on the third. Reported By Sky Sport.
The latter is gaining confidence after scoring 12 goals in his last eight Bundesliga games, while Wirtz has an impressive 17 goal involvements (nine goals, eight assists) in the German top flight alone. The 21-year-old is also one of the top scorers in this season’s UEFA Champions League, having scored five goals and assisted one.
3) Champions League form
A defeat against one of the tournament favourites Liverpool aside, Leverkusen have performed admirably in the newly-formatted competition, sitting fourth in the 36 team table before commencement of the penultimate match day of the league phase.
4) Improved defence
Leverkusen’s shaky start to their championship defence has resulted in them conceding as many goals this season as they did throughout their drive to Bundesliga glory last season.
The squad from North Rhine-Westphalia had a disturbing tendency of conceding goals too readily, conceding more than once in five of their first eight games as they lost lead after lead.
5) Alonso’s inside scoop
Alonso, the coach of Bayer 04, previously played for Real Madrid for five seasons, making 236 appearances in all competitions and winning numerous titles. He won 12 games against Real Madrid, drew twice, and lost only two. In 2016, he scored a direct free kick against the Rojiblancos for Bayern Munich in a 2-1 Champions League semi-final second leg at the Allianz Arena.
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