Dublin will host the 2024 Europa League final when Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen meet at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night.
The absence of champions and holders Sevilla brings a new dimension to this season’s finals, with Leverkusen aiming to complete the second half of what is now a historic treble.
Xabi Alonso’s side wrapped up the Bundesliga title in April and their 2-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday meant they became the first German side to enjoy an unbeaten domestic campaign. Kaiserslautern awaits in the DFB-Pokal final on Saturday.
Atalanta are aiming to beat Alonso’s men for the first time this season, while La Dea are chasing their first European title and their first honor since lifting the Coppa Italia in 1963. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have just been beaten in the Coppa Italia final. Juventus – their third final defeat in six years.
The Italians need a point from their last two Serie A games to secure their place in next season’s Champions League, although victory in Dublin would give them a ticket to Europe’s top club competition.
Here it is 90 min preview of Wednesday’s Europa League final.
Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen H2H Record (All Matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Atalanta |
Bayer Leverkusen |
|---|---|
|
Lecce 0-2 Atalanta – 18/05/24 |
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Augsburg – 18/05/24 |
|
Atalanta 0-1 Juventus – 15/05/24 |
Bochum 0-5 Bayer Leverkusen – 12/05/24 |
|
Atalanta 2-1 Roma – 12/05/24 |
Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Roma – 09/05/24 |
|
Atalanta 3-0 Marseille – 09/05/24 |
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-5 Bayer Leverkusen – 05/05/24 |
|
Salernitana 1-2 Atalanta – 06/05/24 |
Roma 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen – 02/05/24 |
|
The country |
TV channel/live streaming |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
discovery+, discovery+ app, TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate |
|
United States |
TUDN USA, UniMás, TUDN.com, Univision NOW, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, TUDN App, ViX |
|
Canada |
DAZN |
A few days ago I never thought I would write these words: I can’t play the Europa League final. What should have been the most important week of my career, turned into a nightmare. pic.twitter.com/ja0kJVnotE
— Marten de Roon (@Dirono) May 17, 2024
Atalanta star Marten De Roon confirmed at the weekend that he will miss Wednesday’s final due to a hamstring injury.
Gasperini will also be without Sead Kolasinac, while Emil Holm is a doubt with a calf injury.
Charles De Ketelaere, Teun Koopmeiners and Ederson should return to the starting XI as they were rested at Lecce on Saturday.
Atalanta predicted schedule vs Bayer Leverkusen (3-4-2-1): Carnesecchi; Toloi, Hien, Scalvini; Hateboer, Ederson, Koopmeiners, Ruggeri; Lookman, De Ketelaere; Scamacca.
The Bundesliga champions have no injury problems, and Xabi Alonso has a full complement of players to choose from on Wednesday.
Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz are among the players expected to return to the starting team after getting a few minutes off the bench against Augsburg on Saturday.
Lukas Hradecky will be replaced by Matej Kovar between the sticks, with the latter starting all but one of Leverkusen’s Europa League games this season.
Bayer Leverkusen predicted schedule vs Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Kovar; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Wirtz, Adli; Schick.
Leverkusen took down Italian opposition in Rome to progress to the final and will take on a Serie A outfit with a non-Italian outlook. Gasperini’s Atalanta are nothing like their 2019/20 vintage, but they are an aggressive outfit who, like Leverkusen, put a lot of emphasis on marking people and winning possessions up top.
The battle for control will be intense in Dublin, with both sides able to follow each other in spectacular fashion, especially down the stretch.
There’s certainly a chance for both teams to back each other up in this one, and the added tension could be a nasty issue explained in a moment or two. This can go either way; Do you support a story or a historical campaign? Heart or head? It would be the latter.
