Our best bets for Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final second-leg showdown between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona include goals on both sides and another effort for Atleti's Norwegian super sub.
Goals from Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth mean Atletico Madrid take a 2-0 lead into their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Barcelona.
However, Diego Simeone’s outfit are no longer the team that used to suffocate opponents and last week’s match marked the first time both sides haven’t registered in their last 10 European games.
Sorloth’s strike continued his strong scoring run against Barca and he is likely to have a specific role again, while a resurgent Simeone veteran is also expected to be in the thick of things.
Our four-leg Bet Builder pays out at 25/1 in our football odds.
Atletico Madrid v Barcelona Bet Builder
Both teams to score @ 3/8
Alexander Sorloth to score @ 6/4
Koke to be booked @ 9/5
Barcelona over 4.5 corners @ 7/2
Pays out at 25/1
Expect excitement at the Metropolitano
Mentions of Atletico still evoke mental images of last-ditch tackles, deep defensive lines and cynical time-wasting.
The latter is still present, but Simeone has rebuilt his squad into something more rounded than the team that sacrificed public admiration at the altar of success in his early reign.
In fact, their 2-0 win at Camp Nou was the first time in their last 10 Champions League games that either team failed to score.
Barca won 2-1 at the Metropolitano on April 4 and with Barca chasing the game, it is also tough to envisage Atleti not scoring on Tuesday.
Leg 1: Both teams to score @ 3/8
Sorloth to strike again
Sorloth’s strike at Camp Nou was his seventh in 14 career appearances against Barcelona, and surprisingly, his first this term as a substitute.
The Norwegian publicly bemoaned Simeone’s decision to often use him off the bench in his first season after moving to the Metropolitano in 2024.
He has more often than not been used as a starter in 2025-26, but after playing the full 90 minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Sevilla – a game in which Alvarez and Griezmann didn’t feature – Sorloth is again likely to be a replacement on Tuesday.
Simeone will be winding the 30-year-old up and expect him to get on the scoresheet again.
Leg 2: Alexander Sorloth to score @ 6/4
A card looks likely for Koke
A veteran of the La Liga title wins in 2013-14 and 2020-21, Koke has come good again this season, but old habits die hard.
While Pau Cubarsi’s straight red took the headlines, Koke was typically among the players to be cautioned, as he was in that defeat on April 4.
Left out altogether in Seville, expect the 34-year-old to be fresh to feature in his favourite spoiling role.
Leg 3: Koke to be booked @ 9/5
Barca to count up the corners
For all their improved attacking exuberance, Atleti will more than likely employ a reactive gameplan and invite Barca pressure.
That could result in corners for the visitors, who won the first leg count 7-1 and had seven again in Saturday’s 4-1 Derbi Barceloní win over Espanyol.
Hansi Flick’s side averages 4.9 a game in the Champions League and given that Atleti could cede territory, Barca are worth backing to have over 4.5 again.
Leg 4: Barcelona over 4.5 corners @ 7/2
