Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid Prediction 29 January 2025

🔊 Can the Austrians make a loud exit in the final round of the Champions League? Currently, Thomas Letsch's team has lost all chances to continue their journey in the strongest international tournament. The head-to-head between the "Red Bulls" and the "Mattress Makers" will take place at the "Red Bull Arena" in Salzburg. The main referee appointed is the rather controversial Anthony Taylor. Considering the current form of the teams, as well as the skill of the players, the preliminary predictions are not surprising: a Salzburg victory - 9, an Atletico victory - 1.35.

📊 H2H

In the group stage of the 2020/21 Champions League season, Atletico twice proved stronger than their Austrian opponents. At the "Wanda Metropolitano" arena, a late goal by Joao Felix brought the "Mattress Makers" a victory with a score of 3:2. However, in the return match, the "Red Bulls" could not provide adequate competition to the "Indians" (0:2).

⚪ SALZBURG

The current season is a real nightmare for fans of Austrian Salzburg. Pep Lijnders, who was appointed as the team's manager in the off-season, completely failed to fulfill his duties and was dismissed. Since December last year, the "Red Bulls" have been led by German specialist Thomas Letsch. Before taking on the role at this Austrian football giant, he worked with varying success at Bochum, Vitesse, and Austria. Letsch achieved his greatest success with the Dutch team. In the 2020/21 season, he managed to lead the club to the final of the Dutch Cup and finish fourth in the championship, thereby securing participation in the Conference League for the next season. The German coach's debut came in a recent encounter against Real Madrid (1:5). The absolute dominance of the "Galacticos" did not allow the "Red Bulls" to fully realize their attacking potential. Packing the center with tenacious midfielders did not yield results and only gave freedom to the flanking forwards of Real.

🔴 ATLETICO

A victory in the upcoming match guarantees the "Mattress Makers" a place in the Champions League Round of 16. Some obstacles on their path to success include the suspension of Pablo Barrios and an injury to Javier Galan. Both players are considered key conduits of Diego Simeone's ideas and play crucial roles in tactical formations. For an objective stylistic analysis of the "Indians," one must refer to their recent match against Villarreal (1:1) in the 21st round of the Spanish championship. The Argentine specialist continues to demand a rather narrow setup from his players when forming a 4-4-2 scheme. Thanks to the versatility of several players, Atletico regularly forms a diamond in midfield. The tactical figure's links are Molina - Koke - Barrios - Gallagher. This maneuver not only forces opponents out of position but also provides the "Mattress Makers" with numerous paths for attack development. We believe something similar will be seen next Wednesday.

⚽️ GOALS PREDICTION

In 5 out of 7 rounds of this Champions League campaign, the "Mattress Makers" have scored at least 2 goals. Supporting the notion that the upcoming match will be high-scoring is this trend: in each of the last 7 matches involving the "Red Bulls," at least 3 goals were scored. Only once did the Austrians concede less than 2 goals in this season's main European cup - in a victorious encounter with Feyenoord (3:1). Our choice is Atletico's individual total over 2 goals.

🚩 CORNERS PREDICTION

The "Mattress Makers" traditionally play quite compactly, aiming to control the midfield. Based on this, a large number of corner kicks from Diego Simeone's team is not often observed. The average number of corners seen in matches involving the "Indians" in this tournament's current campaign is only 7.9. Our choice is total corners under 10.5.

📝 MATCH PREDICTION

Salzburg has no tournament ambitions ahead of this meeting. It is far more important for the "Red Bulls" to focus all their efforts on the ongoing Austrian championship. The "Mattress Makers" will surely be motivated, as a victory would allow them to advance directly to the Round of 16. In our opinion, Diego Simeone's tactical ideas will prevail, for example, with a score of 3:0. The key bet is Atletico's victory with a handicap (-1).