RB Leipzig vs Atalanta

In what will arguably be the most exciting match of the Europa League quarter-finals, a motivated RB Leipzig side coming off a marvelous 1-4 win against BVB ...

Another thing to notice is Leipzig’s bit of imbalance when attacking, predominantly doing it through the left wing. Leipzig’s 3-4-1-2, which turns into a 5-3-2 in defense, really allows the players to get the best out of their traits. Well, there are subtle differences apart from the player’s characteristics. So there will be tons of individual duels, with Nkunku and Dani Olmo being key in this aspect for Leipzig, as they are the players who can make a difference, with Olmo needed to receive the passes for the build-up into the half-spaces and channels directly from the centre-backs as Laimer and Kampl are going to be tightened up. Half of the Bulls’ chances against Dortmund came from the left side of the field, and Angelino is the third best crosser in the league behind Raum and Kostic. However, Leipzig’s attacking midfielder (Olmo/Szoboszlai) tends to drop a little at times to form that 5-3-2; with the 2 forwards starting the pressing, and from that point on the rest of the block finds and follows the closest opponent to limit the passing options, trying to create a numerical advantage on the side of the ball. Both teams have a fair share of similarities: Both love to press to recover the ball quickly, they want to be as vertical as they can to stretch the opponent as fast as possible; they even play the same formation. That applies for the central attacking midfielder too, especially when Malinovskyi or Pessina play instead of Koopmeiners, chasing either a centre.back, the midfielder that comes down to start the build-up, or even the keeper, with every other player stepping forward to cover their man as they look to launch a counterattack as soon as the ball is recovered. Despite having to rebuild the squad at the beginning of every season, Atalanta’s results have stayed the same thanks to the effort of the squad and their immense and almost blind confidence in their style of play. Much of this change is due to Tedesco’s decision to bring back the defense with 3 centre-backs, the squad immediately showed signs of feeling more comfortable and started to play better, and the last game against Borussia Dortmund was a sign of it. The similar style of both teams as well as their individual quality makes this fixture a promising one, with each game having the possibility of turning into a shootout between two of the favorites to reach the final in Sevilla. Since taking over as Leipzig coach in December, Domenico Tedesco has been able to completely turn around the situation at the club with 4 wins and 2 ties in the last 6 matches, showing a solid style of football and slowly crawling up to Champions League spots.