Valencia hosts Atalanta in the second leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Tuesday, March 10th at Estadio de Mestalla (Valencia)
Valencia was very upset by the dismissal of Marcelino, and it was obvious that the quality of the game would fall after the arrival of Celades. But the unsuccessful streak of the Bats (it started after the victory over Barca) is blowing my mind, judge for yourself: the minimum victory over the outsider Celta, where Smolov’s team did not lose in terms of attempts, fair defeats to Real Sociedad and Getafe, and a draw with Atletico, where Valencia was very lucky in some episodes (Diakabi scored by slipping on a ball). A victory over Betis falls into the category of a match with Celta (a draw would be fairer), and the Bats played in a well-deserved draw with Alaves. If you take the quality of the game, Valencia is in crisis right now. We’ll also note a few details from the style of Valencia: they love to counterattack but defend poorly (they have the fifth place from the end in terms of conceded goals). If we apply this to Atalanta’s style (excellent positional attack and very high-quality pressure and counter pressure, which is built according to personal orientations), the picture for the team of Celades will not look very good.
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Atalanta is the most spectacular team of Serie A right now. If you take the quality of the game, the Goddess has about the same level as very cool Inter (there is no one above them). To understand the coolness of Atalanta, it’s enough to realize that they lost in terms of expected goals far back on November 10, in the game with Sampdoria. The Goddess manages to create a bunch of attempts against any opponent (even if it comes to matches with Juventus or Inter), and scores like 7:1 or 5:0 have become something mundane. Very skilled players in the attack back up the cool system. Gomez is good at dribbling, and he feels great when he can get down or move to the flank during the attack of his team - this adds unpredictability. Ilicic coolly fulfills the set pieces and shoots from afar - his goals to the nets of Milan or Torino became masterpieces, and we remember a shot from a distance in the first match with Valencia.
After the draw, many people said that Valencia was lucky with a couple, but this is not so. Atalanta is a very strong team, and its fixtures are not the result of luck (rather bad luck is to blame - they would have fought for the champion’s title if not for it). Valencia is perhaps the weakest team in the 1/8 finals. I don’t expect a miracle here - Atalanta should not lose to Valencia by default (different "weight categories"). And I think that the match will be scoring.
Prediction for the match: Atalanta to win with +0.5 handicap and Over 2.5 goals scored
