On Wednesday night, Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen will face off in the Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium.
Nerazzurri are in solid formGian Piero Gasperini’s team heads into this game in decent form, having won four of their previous five games in all competitions.
Last time out, they recorded a 2-0 win at Lecce to boost their hopes of claiming a top-five spot in Serie A and Champions League football next season.
However, Atalanta is fully aware of the stakes in this encounter, knowing that a victory will secure their place in European football’s elite competition.
Their recent Europa League form has been decent. The Nerazzurri have lost just once in their last 12 games while winning three of their last five.
Somewhat uncharacteristically, Atalanta’s recent games in the Europa League have been low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in six of their last seven outings.
Bayer looking to continue their incredible campaignDie Werkself has enjoyed one of the most incredible seasons of any club in the European game. Xabi Alonso’s team have already been crowned German champions and could also still win the DFB Pokal to add to being in the final of this competition.
Bayer is now unbeaten in 51 games in all competitions, having recorded a 2-1 victory over Augsburg at the weekend.
Their attacking prowess is one of the most important factors in their extraordinary campaign so far. That excellent strike force has been well illustrated in recent weeks, as Bayer has scored at least two goals in their last six competitive outings.
Bayer are unbeaten in the Europa League in 13 games since losing to Roma in last season’s semi-finals. Leverkusen have also scored at least two goals in seven of their previous eight matches in the competition.
What am I backing?Bayer Leverkusen is enjoying an unbelievable campaign overall, so I am backing Alonso’s team to claim a victory.
