FC Porto vs. Atletico Madrid 12/7/21 UEFA Champions League Soccer Picks, Predictions, and Odds

FC Porto is hosting Atletico Madrid at Estadio do Dragao in round 6 of Group B of the UEFA Champions League. Porto is in solid form, they are undefeated in their last 2 games while losing only 1 of their last 7 games. Atletico is not playing well, especially on the defensive end, but they are playing the best when backed into a corner.

Porto is in second place with 5 points right now, but if they lose this game, they will drop in the table, possibly all the way to the last place. Offensively, Porto has scored the least number of goals, only 3, and their defense hasn’t been great also with 8 conceded goals. Diaz is the leading goalscorer for Porto in the Champions League with 2 goals. Porto is now on a 2-game winning streak in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, and they are now at the top of the table with 35 points, but Sporting is behind them with the same number of points. Overall, Porto is the best team in Portugal, but as far as the Champions League goes, I think they are in second place only because other teams are in worse form and not because they are the better team.

Atletico has won only 2 of their last 6 games, and they have lost to Mallorca in their last LaLiga game. Atletico Madrid is now in 4^th place in the LaLiga table with 29 points, which is 10 points less than Real Madrid has. Defensively, Atletico has been terrible so far this season, but if they want to give themselves a chance to advance past the group stage in the Champions League, they will need to play some of their best defense this season. in their last game against Mallorca at home, Atletico has had 58% of ball possession, 6 shots on goal, 8 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and 85% of the correct passes. After getting ahead in the 68^th minute, Atletico conceded 2 goals in the last 10 minutes of this game, and they lost this match 1-2. The only way Atletico will advance to the next stage is with a win in this game, but even then, they don’t depend only on themselves because if Milan beats Liverpool, Atletico will end up in 3^rd place.

I think this is going to be a tough game, it’s going to be a battle, and I just don’t see Porto attacking unless they absolutely need to. I don’t see goals in this one, I see a very tense game, and I will take the draw in this one.