UCL Odds: Foxes Huge Underdog vs Atleti
Atletico Madrid (-300) vs. Leicester City (+1125), Draw (+480)
Leicester City’s fairy tale is not quite over, as they face their toughest test yet when they meet Atletico Madrid on April 12th for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
The Foxes may sit 15th in the Premier League at the moment, but they’re the last remaining British team in the Champions League. Heading into the round of 16, there were three English teams remaining and Leicester had the slimmest chance of advancing. But Manchester City blew a 5-3 lead against Monaco, losing 3-1 in the second leg. And Arsenal never stood a chance against Bayern Munich, losing 5-1 in both legs.
Leicester lost 2-1 to Sevilla in the first leg, but came back to win 2-0 in the second. Sure, it wasn’t exactly a clean win and they benefitted from some questionable refereeing, but we don’t need to get into that. What’s important is that Leicester City is the only remaining English club.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid made simple work of a lowly Bayer Leverkusen side to advance to the quarter-finals. Atleti has routinely exceeded expectations at the Champions League in recent years. They reached the finals in 2014 and 2016, narrowly losing last year in shootouts.
But Atletico haven’t been quite as good this season. Their current lineup isn’t much different from the ones that brought them to the finals, but something is missing.
That’s nothing compared to Leicester City, though. After winning the league last season, the Foxes instantly reverted back to being a mid-to-bottom table team. Until very recently, they were hovering just above the relegation zone.
Leicester City seems to be back in form after the controversial firing of their league-winning manager, Claudio Ranieri. But I don’t know if it’s enough to beat Atletico Madrid at Vicente Calderón Stadium. They struggled against a ten-man Sevilla side and were very fortunate to advance to the quarter-finals. I’m not sure if they’ll be quite as lucky this time around.
Atletico are currently not at their best, but they’re still notoriously tough to beat at home. Leicester may be better off aiming for an away goal to take to the second leg.
Pick: Atletico Madrid (-300)
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
