On Tuesday, the last two second-leg matches of the UEFA Champions League are played. Four teams will enter into a decisive battle.
"Monaco" will seek to prove their advantage against London's "Arsenal" at home, while last season's finalists will try to rehabilitate against Leverkusen's "Bayer" club.
"Monaco" - London "Arsenal"
"Monaco" club has a great opportunity to break through to the quarter-finals of the Old Continent, where they haven't been for a long time. However, "Gunners" coach Arsene Wenger promises a fight and does not lose hope of advancing to the next stage.
The first meeting at the "Emirates" stadium ended with a somewhat unexpected victory for the visitors from Monaco with a score of 1-3. Geoffrey Kondogbia and Dimitar Berbatov had taken Monaco club forward to 2-0 at one point. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal at the end of the match, but the hopes of making a comeback and achieving a positive result in the away game were shattered by a goal scored by Ferreira Carrasco in injury time.
After the victory against "Arsenal", the French vice-champions played four more matches in their own league. They once again lost to Paris Saint-Germain and drew peacefully, but later achieved easy victories against "Bastia" and "Evian".
Meanwhile, the FA Cup winners played confidently after their unsuccessful match in their country - they defeated Liverpool's "Everton" 0-2 at home, beat London's "Queens Park Rangers", were eliminated from the FA Cup tournament by "Man Utd", and in the last match crushed the "West Ham" team.
Due to injuries, Andrea Raggi, Tiemoue Bakayoko, and Lacina Traore will not be able to help the hosts. Meanwhile, Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Debuchy, and the sole goalscorer in the first match, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, will not be able to help the "Arsenal" team in the crucial match.
First match summary:
Madrid "Atletico" - Leverkusen "Bayer"
Leverkusen "Bayer" - one step away from a sensation. The German team proved their advantage against last season's finalists at home, who have problems not only in Europe.
In Leverkusen, both teams played evenly, but only the hosts took advantage of a real opportunity. The only goal scored by Hakan Calhanoglu in the 57th minute determined the winner of the match, who will have a slight advantage at the "Vicente Calderón" stadium.
Diego Simeone's team played three more matches in the Spanish "Primera" after the first Champions League quarter-final match and did not win. All the matches ended in draws, and the "Rojiblancos" drifted away from the title of champions.
The "Bayer" players demonstrate a much better form in their country's league, having won four out of four possible victories. In the last "Bundesliga" match, the Leverkusen team enjoyed themselves against "Stuttgart" and defeated them 4-0.
"Atletico" has serious problems in defense, as due to disqualification, the team captain and main center-back Diego Godin will definitely not play at home, and due to the same reason, the right-back Tiago will also not be able to appear. Meanwhile, "Bayer" will play against the Spanish champions without Lars Bender.
First match summary:
Aivaras Katutis
