Atletico Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund
UEFA Champions League, KO: 20:00 Apr 10, 2024, Metropolitano Stadium
TWO teams who have woefully underachieved domestically, but impressed in Europe meet on Wednesday in the Champions League quarter final, first leg when Atletico Madrid host Borussia Dortmund.
The Spaniards sit in fourth place in La Liga and are a hugely disappointing 17 points behind leaders and rivals Real Madrid. Diego Simeone's side have lost eight league games this season which is unacceptable.
They did at least receive a weekend boost with a 2-1 win at Villarreal which ended a sequence of two league defeats in a row with one of them a thumping 3-0 home loss to Barcelona which ended their unbeaten home record for the season.
However, in Europe they have looked like a proper Atletico team and they eliminated fancied Serie A leaders Inter Milan in the last round on penalties after a battling fightback.
If you had known that Bayern Munich's 11-year Bundesliga domination was coming to an end at the start of the season, most punters would have rushed to back Dortmund.
But they have been a huge disappointment and their home defeat to Stuttgart at the weekend has left them in fifth place and ended a five-game winning run.
But again, like Atletico, BVB have been much better in Europe and knocked out runaway Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven out in the previous round.
How the bookies view it
Atletico Madrid are odds-on across the board with the 4/5 on offer from bet365 the best price.
Borussia Dortmund can be backed at 15/4 with Paddy Power and the draw is 11/4 with William Hill.
Recent head to heads
The teams last met in this competition six years ago and it was a home win apiece. For what it's worth, the Germans are ahead 3-2 in total with one draw.
Players to watch
Antoine Griezmann scored the goal against Inter that started their fightback and has netted 20 goals for the season, but that Champions League strike was his only goal in 11 games. He is 19/10 to score anytime with UniBet.
Karim Adeyemi has scored three goals in his last six games including at Bayern in a 2-0 win the other week. He is 11/2 to score anytime on Wednesday with William Hill.
Anything else catch the eye?
This is a tough one to call with two teams who have produced their best work in Europe, but it might pay to go for a narrow win for the hosts as they managed against Inter Milan – who are a better team than Dortmund.
Back Atletico to win by one goal at 13/5 with bet365.
It's usually a tight affair when Atletico are involved and it's hard to see either team go gung-ho in the first leg. It's a surprise to see under 2.5 goals at almost evens at 17/20 with bet365 and we'll take that.
This UEFA Champions League match between Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will be played on Apr 10, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Atletico Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
