This coming Wednesday night sees the first big UEFA competition final of the season as Spanish aces Atletico Madrid, playing in their fourth major European Final in six years, face a Marseille team that are back in a major final for the first time since finishing UEFA Cup runners up in 2004.

Of course, to enjoy the game a little more, you may want to have a flutter on the outcome. We’ll be bringing you some of our big tips for the matches later in the article, but if you need to sign up with a top-quality bookmaker to enjoy betting on soccer, then Coral Sports are well worth a look. Not only do Coral offer a specialist starter bonus on big European nights, you can also sign up with their bet £5 get £20 free bets new player bonus deal as standard. Add to that a raft of top promotions on soccer and superb In Play betting, you’ll have everything you need to enjoy football betting not just for the big finals on the horizon but for the World Cup in the summer too.

First up this week it is the Europa League Final however which will see the favourites, Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, facing off against the underdogs Marseille in what should be an intriguing clash of styles between two talented but very different sides.

Let’s now bring you a preview of the game and some of its key stats before we look at both teams in more detail.

Europa League Final

Atletico Madrid v Marseille

  • Date – Wednesday 16th May
  • Venue – Groupama Stadium, Lyon
  • Capacity – 59,186
  • Kick Off – 7.45pm
  • Referee – Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)
  • Current Holders – Manchester United (who beat Ajax back in 2017)
  • Live? – On BT Sport

The final takes place just 195 miles north of Marseille in Lyon, which should give the French team a slight advantage over their opponents and it will be shown live in the UK on BT Sport. The winners will succeed Manchester United as the holders after the Red Devils defeated Ajax in the final last year.

The winners of the tournament will qualify for next season’s Champions League at the group phase, which Atletico Madrid will do anyway by virtue of their likely 2nd place finish in La Liga, however Marseille are in fourth spot in Ligue 1 heading into this game and with just one game to go, they may well need to win this game if they are to compete in European football’s biggest competition next season.

Team Previews

Atletico Madrid (Spain)

Manager – Diego Simeone

League Position – 2nd in La Liga (78 points from 37 games – Champions League qualification assured)

How They Reached the Final

Atletico started this season in the Champions League group stages, finishing third in their group to drop into the Europa League for the knockout phase following Christmas.

Champions League

  • V Chelsea – Lost 1-2 at home, Drew 1-1 away
  • V AS Roma – Won 2-0 at home, Drew 0-0 away
  • V Qarabag – Drew 1-1 at home, Drew 0-0 away

Europa League

  • Round of 32 – V Copenhagen – Won 1-0 at home, Won 4-1 away
  • Round of 16 – V Lokomotiv Moscow – Won 3-0 at home, Won 5-1 away
  • Quarterfinals – V Sporting Lisbon – Won 2-0 at home, Lost 0-1 away
  • Semifinals – V Arsenal – Won 1-0 at home, Drew 1-1 away

Current Squad

  • Diego Godin – DC
  • Filipe Luis – DL (injured)
  • Thomas Partey – D/MRC
  • Koke – DMC
  • Antonio Griezmann – ALC
  • Saul – AMC
  • Fernando Torres – AC
  • Angel Correa – AMLC
  • Jan Oblak – G
  • Gabi – MC
  • Stefan Savic – DC
  • 16 Sime Vrsaljko – DRL (suspended)
  • Diego Costa – AC
  • Lucas Hernandes – DL
  • Juanfran – DR
  • Kevin Gameiro – AC
  • Vitolo – MRC
  • Jose Maria Giminez – DC
  • Axel Werner – G
  • Juan Moreno – MC
  • Sergi – DRC
  • Alberto Rodriguez – DC
  • Carlos Marin – G

Probable Starting XI (4-3-3) – Oblak, Partey, Giminez, Godin, Hernandes, Gabi, Saul, Koke, Griezmann, Costa, Correa

Marseille

Manager – Rudi Garcia

League Position – 4th in Ligue 1 (74 points from 37 games) – (Europa League place assured, need to win and Lyon to lose or draw their final game in order to win Champions League spot)

How they reached the final

Marseille started in the second qualifying round for the Europa League in the summer, playing two ties in those preliminary stages before entering the competition at the Group Stage.

Europa League Qualifiers

  • V Oostende – Home won 4-2, Away drew 0-0
  • V Domzale – Home won 3-0, Away drew 1-1

Europa League Group Stage

  • V Konyaspor – Home won 1-0, Away drew 1-1
  • V Red Bull Salzburg – Home drew 0-0, Away lost 0-1
  • V Vitoria Guimares – Home won 2-1, Away lost 0-1

Marseille finished 2nd in their group behind Salzburg to qualify

Europa League Knockout Stage

  • Round of 32 – V Braga – Home won 3-0, Away lost 0-1
  • Round of 16 – V Athletic Bilbao – Home won 3-1, Away won 2-1
  • Quarterfinals – V Red Bull Leipzig – Home won 5-2, Away lost 0-1
  • Semifinals – V Red Bull Salzburg – Home won 2-0, Awat lost 1-2 (after extra time)

Current Squad

  • Romain Cagnon – G
  • Hiroki Sakai – DR
  • Boubacar Kamara – DC
  • Lucas Ocampos – MRC
  • Rolando – DC
  • Morgan Sanson – MC
  • Dmitri Payet – AMLC
  • Kostas Mitroglu – AC
  • Henri Bedimo – DL
  • Aymen Abdennour – DC
  • Clinton Njie – AMRC
  • Yohan Pele – G
  • Bouna Sarr – MRC
  • Jordan Amavi – DL
  • Luis Gustavo – D/MC
  • Gregory Sertic – MRC
  • Adil Rami – DC
  • Florent Thauvin – AMC
  • Maxime Lopez – AMRC
  • Valerie Germain – AC
  • Andre Zambo Anguissa – MC
  • Steve Mandanda – G

Probable Starting XI (4-3-3) – Pele, Kamara, Rolando, Rami, Amavi, Gustavo, Thauvin, Ocampos, Payet, Mitroglu, Germain

Analysis

The key battle in this game many people believe will be how well Atletico’s staunch defence, which is arguably the best in Europe and has been for many years, can cope with the inventiveness and flair of the talismanic Dmitri Payet for Marseille. The Frenchman is key to the French team’s hopes and he has the skill to unlock any defence. Even arguably the best in Europe.

However, a more pressing concern for Marseille will be how their back line, which hasn’t been rock solid on the road in Europe this season, will cope with a very talented Atletico attack likely consisting of the likes of Saul, Costa and Griezmann. Indeed, it may well be this battle that decides the outcome of the game as I feel Atletico’s chances of scoring a goal are greater against a Marseille back line that doesn’t travel well.

The teams have met just once before in the 2008-2009 Champions League Group Stages and the matches saw Marseille hold the Spaniards at home to a 0-0 draw, but Atletico won the game in Spain by a 2-1 scoreline.

I think this will be a close one but I am backing Atletico to just about get the job done and I think it will be their defence that once again provides the foundation for the victory.

Match Result Tip – Atletico Madrid to win to nil – 29/20 with Coral Sport

In terms of another bet on the game, I feel the First Goalscorer market is a decent option and with me fancying Atletico to win to nil, it has to be an Atletico player to grab the goal. That to me means one of three players, Griezmann, Saul or Diego Costa, and while Saul and Griezmann have tended to get the goals in key games, I think Costa always shows up in big finals and I think at 4/1 with Coral, he is a great value bet here.

First Goalscorer Tip – Diego Costa – 4/1 with Coral Sport.