Hannover vs Atletico Madrid Betting Pick | Europa League

Europa League

2012-04-05 - Hannover vs Atletico Madrid

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Hannover v Atletico Madrid
Football: European Europa League, Quarter Final Second Leg
Thursday 5 April 2012 - Kick Off 8:05pm
This game is live on TV
Atletico Madrid lead 2-1 from the First Leg

Hannover

Hannover were very close to picking up a very important draw from the first leg in Spain, but were undone with just minutes left on the clock. However, they should still have confidence they can complete the job at home as they have one away goal in the bank and a chance to progress through to the Semi Final of this competition.

The side currently sit in 5th place in the Bundesliga and still have a fight on their hands if they are to finish in the Europa League places with the Champions League already looking beyond reach. They have a 7-4-2 record in the Europa League this season, going 4-2-0 here at home including a 2-1 win over Sevilla from La Liga.

They had lost back to back games in all competitions before recording a 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend. Hannover have won 7 of their last 8 home games in all competitions, and they have scored at least 2 goals in each of their last 6 games played here. The German side have won their last 3 home games in the Europa League since a 2-2 draw with Copenhagen.

Leon Andreasen remains absent for the home side, but Didier Ya Konen will be hoping he can earn a spot in the starting line up after scoring the winning goal at the weekend.

Atletico Madrid

It looked like the Hannover defensive performance was going to prevent Atletico Madrid from bringing a lead to Germany, but Eduardo Salvio has given them something to defend in this second leg. However, defending a lead is not something you would usually associate with Spanish sides and I expect Atletico will come out in search of an away goal of their own.

The second team in Madrid have not given up the hope of playing in the Champions League this season as they trail Malaga by just 5 points in La Liga, but they could miss out on Europe altogether with the tight nature of that table. Atletico's win over Hannover means they improved their record to 13-1-1 in the Europe League this season, a record that is 5-1-1 away from home.

Atletico have won 6 of their last 8 games in all competitions, although the two exceptions were both in losing efforts. They have lost back to back away games in all competitions, but they have won their last 3 on their travels in the Europa League. Atletico's only 2 away wins in their last 7 games have both come in this competition.

Antonio Lopez will be missing for this game as will Pizzi and Silvio Pereira.

Head to Head

This will be the first competitive meeting between the teams in Germany.

Hannover have won their only home game against Spanish opposition when they beat Sevilla earlier this season.

Atletico are 4-3-7 in games played in Germany, their last coming in the Champions League last season when they drew 1-1 at Bayer Leverkusen.

Prediction

This tie has been left on a knife-edge after the first leg in Spain and I think both sides will be confident that they can get through to the Semi Final.

Hannover will get confidence from the fact that they beat Sevilla earlier this season and have been scoring goals here at the AWD-Arena, grabbing at least 2 goals in each of their last 6 home games.

Atletico Madrid have been very strong in the Europa League this season, and they will also feel confident having scored 3 goals in wins at Lazio and Besiktas in the last two Rounds.

The thing about this game is that one goal should really open up the game, regardless of which team gets it, as long as it comes early enough. The timing of the goal will be key to my pick, which is going to be taking the Overs here.

Both sides have goals in them and neither will sit back if they fall behind as each goal can change the complexion of the game. Regardless of who scores first, we could see gaps opening up later in the game, while both teams have been scoring heavily in games this season.

Hopefully it will be similar to the Schalke-Athletic Bilbao game from last week in Germany where both sides attacked and earned the goals their performances deserved.