Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen: Europa League final offers promise for unbeaten Germans

The Europa League final takes place in Dublin on Wednesday night as Atalanta face Bayer Leverkusen at the Aviva Stadium. Both of these teams come into this final on flying form, but of course, the main talking point has to be Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten season. At the weekend, they rounded off their invincible league campaign with a 2-1 win over Augsburg and now they are only two matches away from sporting immortality. 

This is without a doubt their toughest remaining test, with second tier FC Kaiserslautern to come in the DFB-Pokal final. Atalanta have been in good form of late though, and so below you can find my Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen Europa League final prediction.

Team News

Atalanta midfielder Ederson has been called up to Brazil’s Copa America squad and Gian Piero Gasperini has a whole heap of options to choose from ahead of this final. Gianluca Scamacca and El Bilal Touré are likely to start as the front two, with Charles De Ketelaere in contention to come back into the starting XI in midfield. Likely to play a 3-4-1-2 formation, Atalanta will be desperate to finish off their season in style. 

Meanwhile, Leverkusen will welcome the Bundesliga’s Player of the Year Florian Wirtz back into their team, as he has been used sparingly by Xabi Alonso of late. The Spanish manager has frequently rotated his strongest XI, even resting key men for the second leg draw with Roma. But his side are still unbeaten. Expect his strongest line-up here, with Wirtz, Granit Xhaka and Nathan Tella all likely to star. 

Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen Match Odds

Atalanta are priced at 33/10 to win this game in 90 mins, while Bayer Leverkusen are available at 41/50. Over 2.5 goals can be backed at 9/10, BTTS is 21/25. The Germans are 41/100 to lift the trophy, and Atalanta are 9/5. 

Bayer Leverkusen to win @ 41/50

Even though this is set to be an incredibly close final, I just cannot back against Bayer Leverkusen. Having gone unbeaten for the entirety of the Bundesliga season, Alonso’s men are currently 51 games without defeat in all competitions and they are focussed on completed the perfect season. 

They’ve already dethroned Bayern Munich in Germany, and charged to the final of the Europa League by beating another Italian side, Roma. Now only Atalanta stand in their way of a historic double. With both clubs having already qualified for the Champions League next season, this final is all about who lifts the trophy at the end of the day. 

Atalanta have won their last five league matches, but they lost 1-0 to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final and I just think Leverkusen will prove to be too strong for them. Quite possibly the best team in Europe right now happen to find themselves in the Europa League rather than the Champions League this term. They should go all the way and win it. 

Bet Builder - Leverkusen win, Wirtz to score and over 2.5 goals @ 83/17

A bet builder for what should be an entertaining final now. As I’ve already discussed, I think the Germans should come out on top here, and backing their main man to find the net is sensible. He’s scored 18 goals in 43 games this term, and is now back fully fit after sitting out two matches towards the end of the regular season. 

Playing in that creative role, I think he will have a big say in this game, and he’s probably the most talented individual on the pitch. He should shine, while I also believe there will be over 2.5 goals in this game given the attacking quality on show for both teams. There’s been over 2.5 goals in five of the last six Leverkusen games, while that figure is three out of five for Atalanta. 

This should be a thrilling match up in Dublin, as Leverkusen try to complete part two of their unbeaten treble. 

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