Champions League Betting – Bayer Leverkusen vs. Atletico de Madrid

Bayer Leverkusen (+220) vs. Atletico de Madrid  (+150) (Draw +220)

Bayer Leverkusen has never won a Round of 16 tie in the UEFA Champions League. Today, the Germans host Atletico de Madrid at Bay Arena (2:45 p.m. Eastern) looking for a change of fortune.

In the odds, the visitors are the slight favorites to win, listed at +150 in the moneyline and -1 in the handicap. A Bayer Leverkusen victory and the draw are both at +220 in the moneyline.

In the odds to score the first goal, Atletico’s Mario Mandzukic is the favorite to net first at+450, followed by Stefan Kiessling for Bayer at +550.

These two clubs have never met in the Champions League; however, they did face each other in the 2010 group stage of the Europa League, drawing two games, 1-1.

Bayer Leverkusen defender Ömer Toprak has high hopes for his squad.

“We have a lot of quality in the team and we want to go as far as possible. We all want to play as many UEFA Champions League matches as we can. You’re playing against the best teams and the best players. That’s what we all want,” said the Turkish defender.

On the other side of the field, Atletico de Madrid will try to reach the quarter-finals for the seventh time. Since September 2013, Los Colchoneros have won five and lost just one of their nine Champions League away games.

Atletico finished first in Group A during the round robin with a 4-1-1 record and a +11 goal difference. Bayer Leverkusen were second in Group C (behind Monaco) with a 3-1-2 record and a +3 goal difference.

(Photo credit: Ver en vivo En Directo (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)