Salzburg vs Atl. Madrid prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-01-28 20:00.
[p]Last matchday’s 5-1 UEFA Champions League (UCL) loss to Real Madrid ended Salzburg’s chances of reaching the knockout stages with a round still to play. Yet to return to domestic action following the winter break, the Austrians conclude the league phase by taking on Atlético Madrid knowing that a point will ensure they won’t finish bottom of the 36-team table.[/p]
[p]Salzburg haven’t scored in the league phase at home this term (L3) so that might be tricky considering they haven’t kept a UCL clean sheet on home turf since October 2022 (W1, D1, L7). New boss Thomas Letsch will now try to steer his team to only a fifth-ever success at home against a Spanish side in major European competitions (L6), but with their 5-1 hammering against Real still fresh in the mind, they’ll be fearful of falling to a Madrid double.[/p]
[p]Avoiding such a feat won’t be easy given AtlĂ©tico’s perfect record against Salzburg (W2), and after beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 last matchday, they are assured of at least a seeded place in the play-offs. A win here – or potentially even a draw depending on other results – would put them straight into the last 16, but dropping La Liga points by drawing 1-1 with Villarreal on Saturday was hardly an ideal warm-up.[/p]
[p]Diego Simeone’s men at least have history on their side here as they’ve won all six previous UCL/European Cup encounters with Austrian sides, including a 2-0 win here in 2020/21. Perhaps surprisingly given their pedigree, after beating PSG 2-1 and Sparta Prague 6-0, a win here for the Mattress Makers would see them achieve three consecutive UCL away wins for the first time ever![/p]
[p]Players to watch: Mads Bidstrup netted for Salzburg against Madrid with his second goal of the season to arrive after the 75th minute while three of his last four strikes were in games that ended 5-1 to the home team on the day! Julián Alvarez netted both of Atlético’s goals against Leverkusen to take his UCL tally this term to six, three of which were game openers before the 20th minute.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Atlético have concluded four of their last five UCL group/league phase campaigns with a win (L1).[/p]
[p][i]Written by John Pennington[/i][/p]