Atlético – Leverkusen preview: Simeone and Xabi Alonso match wits again

A little more than two years after a heartbreaking group stage elimination, Atlético de Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen meet again in the Champions League on Tuesday in a decisive showdown for position in the league stage table.

Atlético Madrid (12 points) is guaranteed continued participation in Champions League with one round to spare if it can beat Leverkusen (13 points), last season’s Bundesliga winners and Europa League near-misses. Atlético need to win both of their remaining games in the league stage and get help elsewhere to finish as one of the top eight teams and thereby avoid a two-legged playoff; Going into Tuesday’s fixture list, Atleti are number 11 out of 36 teams in the league’s phase table.

“Liverpool are an extraordinary team, they play with great speed and very good positioning,” Diego Simeone told the media on Monday. “Xabi Alonso is doing a great job, he proved it last season and is on course to repeat it. Their style of football is admirable.

“We will compete with the tools we have and with the goal we have,” Simeone continued. “The club has never managed to win this Champions League and our goal is to reach the final, so wanted and loved by everyone.”

Bayer 04 Leverkusen v Borussia Monchengladbach - Bundesliga

Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz has scored 14 goals and assisted nine in 28 games. He accounted for all three of Bayer’s goals (2 scored/1 assisted) in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Photo by Pau Barrena/Getty Images

While Atlético saw their 15-game winning streak come to an end in Saturday’s loss to Leganés, Bayer Leverkusen go into this game on an 11-game winning streak. The reigning German champions have closed to within four points Bayern Munich as they seek to defend their crown; in the Champions League, Xabi Alonso’s men are fourth in the table and – barring a complete collapse – will be playing knockout football in this competition for the first time in eight years (when they lost to Atlético in the round of 16).

“I have a lot of respect and praise for Simeone, for what he has achieved at Atlético,” Xabi Alonso told reporters on Monday. “He has been at this club for 13 seasons and has had a big impact on the club. This team might be the best he has ever had, my congratulations to Atlético. They perform very well in the league and in the cup. They have a lot of good players in the squad, they can rotate and they are ambitious this season.”

Injury updates and team news

Josema Giménez celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday by training normally with his teammates; The Uruguay international is set to return to the squad on Tuesday after Simeone opted not to include him on the short trip to Leganés. However, Clément Lenglet and Robin Le Normand can keep their places in the 11 for Leverkusen’s visit.

Alexander Sørloth has not yet recovered from his injury and will not be available on this big Champions League night; Atlético missed Sørloth’s frame and finishing ability dearly as they chased an equalizer against Leganés. However, Rodrigo Riquelme should return to the squad after missing Saturday’s game due to illness; he scored his first goal of the season in last week’s Copa del Rey win at Elche and will look to capitalize on that momentum should he see the pitch on Tuesday.

Simeone gave no clues to his potential 11 during Monday’s training session. We can expect Antoine Griezmann and Julián Alvarez to remain El Cholo’s starting forward pairing, with both players eager to put disappointing displays at Leganés behind them. Pablo Barrios and Rodrigo de Paul are likely to start in midfield, while Jan Oblak is good to go after leaving Butarque with his right hand encased in ice.

Date 21 January 2025

Location Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid

Kickoff time 21:00 CEST, 20:00 GMT, 15:00 ET, 12:00 PT

TV/streaming available Paramount+ (USA), Movistar+ (Spain)