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Here are the best free tips for the Atalanta-Leverkusen final
The referee in Dublin is one of the toughest in the field.
Italian-German final in the Europa League, assisted by a Hungarian referee from Romania, István Kovács. But let’s see what we can expect from the referee from Carei, who has also been selected for the European Championship squad. Check out the best picks from 22bet!
Another big step in Kovács’ career
Although the sports press at the World Cup was still buzzing with the fact that Kovács was fourth referee in eight matches, he never got the whistle. In Qatar he reportedly had a falling out with Pierlluigi Collina, but that did not mean his career was over.
The referee of the 2022 Conference League final will not only officiate the last match of this year’s Europa League, but will also be back in Germany. This will be only Kovács’ second EU match this year, but as far as his average in international series is concerned, he has nothing to be ashamed of.
In this year’s 9 European Cup matches, he has handed out a total of 58 cards, arguably one of the most in UEFA.
Although he hasn’t managed Atalanta or Leverkusen this season, he has already managed in an Italian-German derby, when Dortmund won 3-1 at San Siro.
Kovács received a lot of criticism from fans in the 1-4 Barca-PSG match, but despite the red card, the penalty and the many dubious decisions, the referee was clearly supported by the profession. And not just the experts, but UEFA, too, apparently recognised his actions in Barcelona, which may not even be the crowning achievement of his career.
Besides, the delegation is a good indicator that a referee does not necessarily have to be short of cards to be recognised for his achievements.
The teams are supposed to be partners in a peaceful final
The stakes are not small, of course, although the BL start is already assured for Bergamo. For Leverkusen, it could be the crowning glory of a perfect season, while for Atalanta it could be a consolation after a failed cup final.
However, they are not a very tough team in either the domestic league or the cup. Bayer have picked up 20 yellow cards in 12 games, Atalanta 24, although it is worth noting that the Italians have the most fouls in the EL season.
Best free tips for the EL final
We bet on the fouls rather than the cards. In the case of Kovacs, there is a game with a card, he did win the 2022 final with 5 yellow cards in a game with 26 fouls. However, knowing the style of both teams, we are not convinced that there will be many cautions – so these two factors cancel each other out a bit.
Our first guess is that there will be at least 11 fouls from the Germans, which is about their average in the EL by the way. We don’t expect any finesse in a final, so this number is definitely worth a miss.
And Robert Andrich is our pick of the bunch. The midfielder is averaging 41 fouls per minute, and last time out in Rome, for example, he was fouled four times. He could get two this time too.
