Football Results

Atletico and Sporting have played the Champions League this season, however, both teams have won their third place in their groups, which meant that the competition continued in Europa League. In the previous two rounds of the knockout stage, they did not have any major rivals, but Atletico was still much better against Copenhagen and Lokomotiv than Sporting against Astana and Plzen. When the championship is concerned, Atletico holds the second position and will struggle to get to the first, while Sporting is only third in Portugal and it will also be difficult to get in the fight for the title. These rivals met in Europa League in 2010 and both games ended unresolved.

Atletico Madrid

After disappointment in the Champions League, Atletico will certainly continue the competition in Europa League and they have without any problems passed two rounds of knockout stage. They were defeated in all four games and dilemmas have been solved in the first duels. They have defeated Copenhagen with 4-1, and Lokomotiv Moscow with 3-0 in their field. The Moskovians were even more convincing at home when they celebrated with 5-1 and they were really great after a disappointing defeat from the Champions League, where they celebrated only once and in six games they scored a total of goals as they met in Moscow.

In the championship they experienced two defeats in a short period of time, but the first happened at Nou Camp, and Villarreal has defeated them two rounds ago. For this duel, Filipe Luis did not compete due to injury, while Vrsaljko and Griezmann returned, who did not play in the minimal win over Deportivo in the last round.

Probable lineups Atletico Madrid: Oblak – Vrsaljko, Savic, Godin, L.Hernandez – Thomas, Saul Niguez, Koke, Correa – Griezmann, Gameiro

Sporting Lisabon

Sporting has made even one victory over their host in the group stage, but they were only third, but that is no surprise in the competition of Barcelona and Juventus. They did not shine even in four knockout stages of Europa League, or rather, they played two duels quite well when they were away from Astana with 3-1 and at home Plzen with 2-0, however they played 3-3 with Astana in Lisbon, while they eliminated Plzen only after the extra time, as they also lost in the Czech Republic with 2-0 in regular time.

They hoped they could enter the fight for the title in the championship, but four rounds ago, they lost a derby from Porto, and all was spiced with a defeat from Braga in the last round. Benfica has six points more and it will be difficult to reach the end, though they are welcoming their city's rivals in the penultimate round. Podence and Doumbie are out of action due to injuries, and Coates will not play.

Probable lineups Sporting Lisabon: Patricio – Piccini, Pinto, Mathieu, Coentrao – Fernandes, Battaglia – Martins, B.Ruiz, Acuna – Dost

Verdict:

Atletico is certainly a favourite on their field, but usually the first goal for this team is not to receive a goal and so it will be this time, while they should both be satisfied. Sporting will try not to lose and a draw would satisfy them, which is why we expect a match with a small number of goals.

Pick:  under 2.5 goals 1.96 - 96/100@1XBet