Second place in Group D is up for grabs on the final matchday of the Champions League group stage. Atletico Madrid comes into the last day with a one-point cushion over Bayer Leverkusen and must take care of business against last place Lokomotiv Moscow to earn a spot in the Round of 16.
Atletico Madrid vs. Lokomotiv Moscow
- Date: Wed. December 11
- Time: 3:00 PM ET
- TV Channel: TUDNextra 1
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)
Recent form will be worrying for Diego Simeone’s side. Losses against Barcelona in La Liga and Juventus in the Champions League jump out at you, but the team’s most recent 0-0 draw with Villarreal is the main reason the team is in seventh in the league. Atletico Madrid’s inconsistency has put the team in this position of possibly not making the knockout rounds. If that happens, it would be a huge blow for the ambitious club after such a busy summer of transfer dealings.
Leverkusen has to go up against group winner Juve in the concurrent match. This could be good or bad news from Atleti’s perspective. With the group already in hand, Maurizio Sarri could use this chance to rest some of his best players. If that happens and the Germans get full points, the pressure to get a win will be immense.
As always seems to be the case with a Simeone-led side, it’s scoring goals that’s the main problem. The team has only scored 16 goals in 16 La Liga matches so far and just about kept that same pace in Europe with six goals in five played. A stout defense is a given, but can the team find the back of the net when it matters most?
For Lokomotiv, while extremely unlikely, the team has an outside shot at getting a Europa League spot if it beats Atleti, Juve beats Leverkusen and the team overtakes the Germans in goal differential.
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