Atletico Madrid v Leicester: Hosts too savvy for heroic Foxes

Given the crazy ride Leicester City have taken us on, a Champions League trip to Atletico Madrid really isn’t that surprising. But we’ve got a feeling that the Foxes are about to get off at the next stop.

The reigning Premier League champions may have ousted Sevilla, but Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are far more organised and disciplined than their La Liga rivals.

We make the Spanish outfit 2/7 favourites to win the first-leg, and they’re even shorter to qualify at 1/5.

The Foxes are 11/1 to win at the Vicente Calderon, and 10/3 to reach the semi-finals.

After guiding Leicester to six wins on the spin, Craig Shakespeare tasted defeat for the first time in Sunday’s 4-2 loss at Everton.

The caretaker boss may well have had one eye on this trip to the Spanish capital, but even so, it will have been an alarming result.

Atletico have been near-impregnable of late, and only Barcelona have managed to beat Los Rojiblancos in the last 20 games.

They’ve conceded just 17 goals in that spell, and six of those came against either the quality of Lionel Messi and co, or Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid.

And then there is Atletico’s home record in Europe, which showcases a staggering 17 clean sheets in 21 games.

So, for all of Leicester’s magic in Europe this season, backing a Madrid shutout at 8/13 looks assured.

And they could well be worth backing on the -1 handicap too, at 17/20.

Antoine Griezmann is again enjoying a sensational campaign, and the Frenchman has netted 23 goals while supplying 11 assists in all competitions.

The 26-year-old scored in the Madrid derby at the weekend, and is 11/4 favourite to break the deadlock here.

Even if the English side manage to contain Griezmann, there’s still Yannick Carassco to worry about. The Belgian is on 12 for the campaign and is 5/1 to open the scoring.

But if you believe in Leicester and see this fairytale continuing, then Jamie Vardy is your man.

The England international has five goals in his last four league games, and is 10/1 to score first and 15/4 to bag a crucial away goal at any time.

Plus, check out our Headline Boosts, available from 8am on the day of the game.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing