



The Wednesday schedule for the Champions League has in store a couple of very interesting matchups. José Mourinho's Tottenham faces Julian Nagelsmann's RB Leipzig and in a battle of surprise teams Valencia travels to Italy to face Atalanta.





It is safe to say that no one expects any of these four teams to win the title but they are all in their own individual way fun to watch. (I like to watch the pragmatism of Valencia).

















Atalanta x Valencia





Introduction:





Atalanta plays a very unique style of football under Gasperini, a lot of movement, individual marking are some of the straights of the Bergamo side.





Valencia maintained it's pragmatic style of play with the two banks of four. On a season that appeared to be doomed with the whole Marceliño debocle, the reaction of the players but the team rallied and through a couple of hard fought 1-0 victories away from home at Ajax and at Stamford Bridge. They shocked the footballing world by finishing first in the group.





Looking back at their journey through the group stage while one team finish first and the other second, there are some similarities. Both teams entered the final fixture of the group facing Shakhtar Donetsk and Ajax, sides with more recent experience in the Champions League in win or go home situations away from home and they pulled through.









What to expect:





Based on how both teams play we can expect to see Atalanta dominating and the ball and Valencia trying to do damage on the counter Now I can see either team succeeding within their own strategy, we'll just have to wait and see.





Looking at each squad I'd say Atalanta has better options and they could do a lot of damage against Valencia's defense but at the same time this seems to be the type of match that the Spanish side thrives in. Look no further than their wins at Stamford Bridge and the Johan Cruijff Arena.





The fact that Uefa forced Atalanta to play their home matches at San Diego hurts them, but because the first match will be in Italy I actually think it won't hurt them as a much. Based on how Valencia plays I don't see them scoring more than 2 goals in the first leg and that might be a stretch and if that's confirmed Atalanta goes to Spain alive because of the away goal, their potent attack currently leads Serie A in goals scored.





It's still a little weird to see Tottenham without Mauricio Pochetinno on the bench but they seen to have turned a corner under José Mourinho.Leipzig is a club that's growing as each year passes and with Nagelsmann they have one of the more promising young managers in the world. The future looks bright for the German side.As the draw was done a while back this matchup was viewed as a duel with no favorites by the bookies and looking at it right now I give Tottenham a slight edge.Being the more experienced side with more world class players it's not that hard to see why. Leipzig is young exciting and it can surely beat Spurs on any given day and with the injuries to Kane and Son it's anyone's guess how their attack will look but I've seen Lucas Moura shine on a similar spotlight before.What intrigues me most about the starting elevens is whether or not Mourinho will use Tanganga and Sanchéz to offset the speed of Werner and the whole Leipzig attack or will he roll with the experience of Vertonghen and Alderweireld. Will Dyer play?I am really looking forward to see who Mourinho chooses.