Atletico Madrid v FC Rostov Betting Tips

A win for last year’s runners-up Atletico Madrid here will see them clinch passage to the knockout rounds of the Champions League with a 100% record. On the other hands, Champions League newcomers Rostov are still looking for their first win in the competition proper as they look to clinch third spot in Group D and thus gain a path into the Europa League.

Atletico are once again proving that they are one of the best sides in Europe during this Champions League campaign. The Spaniards knew they had to be dogged and determined to get a result against a resilient Rostov side in the last round of European fixtures and they managed to pull it off – just as Diego Simeone’s side often do.

Although we often associate Atletico with defensive solidity and hard work, they’ve added plenty of goals to their game this season which means they now have the perfect cocktail. When you think of the Atletico attack you automatically think of Frenchman Antoine Griezmann, however, they have plenty of other options in the final third in the likes of Yannick Carrasco and Kevin Gameiro, both of whom scored braces in the 4-2 victory over Malaga at the weekend.

The former La Liga champions currently sit third in the league table with just one costly defeat against Sevilla. In fact, that defeat was the first time that Los Rojiblancos had failed to score in a competitive match since August’s 0-0 draw against newly-promoted Leganes.

Despite having picked up just the one point at home to PSV Eindhoven in their debut Champions League campaign (a match they should have won), Rostov will feel they have acquitted themselves well at the top level of European football. They have kept to their conservative approach and, apart from their thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich on match-day one, it has done them well.

There was another interesting twist in the management merry-go-round at Selmashi last week with former head coach Kurban Berdyev said to be taking training sessions. That means the club have two unofficial head coaches in Berdyev and Dmitri Kirichenko and one official head coach in Ivan Daniliants, who was appointed for paperwork reasons.

The unofficial coaches, Berdyev and Kirichenko, seem to be doing all the work whilst the official coach sits twiddling his thumbs. A very odd situation indeed.

Rostov have failed to replicate their title challenge from last season and currently sit seventh in the Russian Premier League and 11 points off top spot. There is no way they will repeat last season’s success now.

Berdyev/Kirichenko/Daniliants’ men have been on a poor run ever since their impressive victory over title challengers CSKA Moscow a few weeks ago with two losses and a draw – failing to find the back of the net in any of those matches.

For this match against one of Europe’s top teams, I expect Rostov to simply defend and hope for the best. A dangerous tactic in terms of results but for their goal difference, which needs improving, it is probably the right approach if they are to beat PSV to that Europa League spot.

Many are expecting an Atletico thrashing of Rostov but I am not sure it will happen. Simeone’s side are not ones to come out and over-express themselves, they are very much a team who get the job done with no frills.

With this in mind, a reasonably conservative approach could pay off here. Firstly, ‘Atletico to Win by a Two Goal Margin’ and ‘Under 2.5 Goals’, at 3/1 and 7/4 respectively, are two good bets.

As previously mentioned, although I expect one way traffic, this match will not contain many goals, however, I do still expect Atletico to find the net twice, with their attacking options, is certainly feasible.

A final bet to go for here is ‘Griezmann to Score Anytime & Atletico to Win 2-0, 3-0 or 4-0’, at 11/4. Despite not scoring in his last four matches, France international Griezmann is still the focal point of Atleti’s attack and remains a likely goalscorer, especially in a game where he is likely to be receiving the ball around the 18-yard box at regular intervals. Again, Although Atletico to win by two goals is the main fancy, this bet provides a nice cushion.

See all of our Champions League tips here.