Atletico Madrid v Marseille Betting Tip Atletico Madrid – 16 May 2018

Atletico can record victory in Lyon

Europa League Tips

Wednesday 16th May 2018 Kick off 1945hrs Atletico Madrid v Marseille Football – Europe – Europa League The Champions League final may well be the showpiece occasion for European football but it will be the furthest thing from all connected with Atletico Madrid and Marseille on Wednesday in Lyon. Both clubs have navigated their way to the final by very different passages but it’s now all about what happens in the final. Atletico Madrid are the favourites for many to get the victory but Marseille have been a breath of fresh air in this competition and will have no problems playing as underdogs.

Atletico Madrid are no stranger to European finals as this will be their fifth this decade which is a phenomenal achievement for any club. They have won two of the previous four – both in the Europa League – and will be hoping they can make it a hat trick on Wednesday night. Atleti have had to endure disappointments in the two Champions League finals they have reached – both against their arch rivals Real – and although they would have been frustrated that they were eliminated at this group stage of this year’s competition, the fact they have responded to that failing by going all the way in the lesser of the two European trophies and reaching yet another final. It was a tense semi final against Arsenal with Diego Costa’s goal in the second leg proving to be the difference. It’s the sort of impact that he was brought back to the club to have and he will again be pivotal when he comes up against a Marseille team who will no doubt look to try and unsettle him. Diego Simeone, however, will have to do his bidding from the stands as he serves out another ban for being sent to the stands in the first leg of that semi final win over Arsenal – how much of a factor will that be?!

Whilst Atletico Madrid have enjoyed themselves by reaching showpiece occasions in Europe in recent times, it’s been much more difficult for Marseille to make an impact. This will be their fifth European final in their entire history with their most recent coming back in 2004. They faced Spanish opposition that time as well, going down 2-0 to Valencia. Tomorrow’s match with Atletico will be their third final in some iteration of the Europa League and they’ll be hoping it is third time lucky in this competition. Their greatest (and most controversial) moment came when winning the first running the Champions League in 1993 – defeating the mighty AC Milan. Subsequent allegations of bribery surfaced not long after their win and it’s a tag they have continued to be blighted by. Rudi Garcia is attempting to win the club’s second ever European trophy and if successful, it would be an amazing achievement considering they were completely unfancied at the beginning of the campaign. The final will be their 19th match in this season’s Europa League, dating all the way back to late July. It shows you just how much of an arduous route it has been for them and they deserve great credit for that alone.

Atletico’s squad is one of the strongest in Europe so although it’s no surprise to see them reach this stage, it does beg the question how they could underperform so much in the Champions League and why they had to settle for the lesser of the two competitions. The mentality is such of Simeone and his players that no matter the prize they are playing for they simply want to win and that has pulled them through a couple of tricky ties in their road to the final. Sporting remain the only team to have beaten them thus far and have conceded just three goals in their eight games which is without doubt their biggest strength as a team and will give them great confidence and belief going into the final.

Marseille have been involved in some real thrillers in the Europa League this season including a 4-3 aggregate win over Athletic Bilbao and an enthralling 5-3 win over RB Leipzig in the quarter finals. They had to endure some really nervy moments in the semi final as well as Salzburg recovered a two goal deficit from the first leg only for the veteran Brazilian defender Rolando to write his name into the club history and score the winning goal in extra time. It’s likely they may have to go through all the emotions once again on Wednesday.

Atletico Madrid v Marseille Betting Tip

The two clubs have extremely different experiences of this year’s Europa League but they’ll both be desperately hoping that their final experience is a very positive one. Marseille have been excellent at home in this year’s competition winning eight of their nine at home and remaining unbeaten. It’s been a completely different story on the road however as they managed just one win in the same amount of games and losing five of them. Although the final will be played on French soil there must be some concern as to how they have performed away from their famous Velodrome as they go in against Atletico on Wednesday. Atleti are much more experienced at this level and that’s shown in the results they have gained since dropping into the Europa League. Their experience and quality is such at the highest level of European football that they may just have the edge on Marseille who for all intents and purposes are pretty inexperienced when it comes to this stage.

In many ways it’s a very similar game to the final of last year when Manchester United proved victorious against Ajax. United’s pragmatism won out on that occasion against the exuberance of their opponents and it’s likely to be the same on Wednesday in Lyon. Atletico have lost their last two European finals but they won’t lose out on a third.

Atletico Madrid 5/6 @ Betway