La Liga’s two best defensive sides played out a 0-0 draw at the Vicente Calderon as Atletico Madrid could not break through a stubborn Villarreal.
A tight and tense first half was played out with the home side shading a game where neither goalkeeper was tested.
Villarreal were kept shotless for the entire half but it took 40 minutes for Atleti to come alive offensively. Koke had a good opportunity to score as the ball wasn’t cleared from the away side’s penalty area and the Spanish midfielder released a shot that flew just wide.
Only a minute later Antione Griezmann had the best chance of the half, getting his head on the end of a Juanfran cross but the Frenchman couldn’t get enough contact to guide it on target.
The second half started in the same vein with Atleti becoming even more dominant as it wore on. Angel Correa had the first chance of the half, and the best chance of the match to this point, as some trickery in the box left him with an opportunity to shoot but his attempted chip was parried away in the 52nd minute.
It took 62 minutes for Villarreal to find the counter attack they were searching for. Roberto Soldado’s cross field ball found Antonio Rukavina on the right who slipped a ball through to Cedric Bakambu; the Congolese striker blazed his shot into the crowd as he went one on one with Jan Oblak.
The game began to open up as the clock counted down toward full time but neither team was able to make the opposition goalkeeper work too hard and while Atletico had the better of the match did not do enough to take home the three points.
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Forwards played out of the match
In a game that would be described as the quintessential “tactical battle” between the league’s two best defensive sides the final score line comes as little surprise but the inability of both sets of strikers to get themselves into the game will worry their managers.
Griezmann and Fernando Torres were essentially kept in the pocket of Victor Ruiz and Daniele Bonera, who had his best game in yellow shirt since arriving at the beginning of the season.
At the other end of the pitch, both Soldado and Bakambu will have missed the feeling of the ball on their boots as neither would touch it for long swaths of this game.
For Simeone, the worry will be that his side could not turn their dominance into goals. Despite playing the majority of the match in Villarreal’s half, they rarely troubled Areola and none of his strikers looked like scoring.
Although Marcelino may be happy with his side’s defensive work rate their lack of inventiveness when on the ball meant that they could have played this match without their two strikers and no onlookers would have noticed.
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All eyes on Europe
For Villarreal this tie is sandwiched between two matches in the Europa league against Napoli while for Atletico they now travel to Holland for their Champions League tie at PSV.
Marcelino played his first strength XI for the first leg on Thursday and thus rang in the changes for this match at the Calderon. No Musacchio and no Suarez for the away side was a clear sign that they are focused on Napoli and the defensive line up sent out to play said that they were here for a point.
Atleti started with a stronger line up but with clear instructions to exert themselves as little as possible while still remaining competitive. The early exit of Griezmann on the hour mark was also a sign that Simeone is looking toward Eindhoven.
Neither side could move from the league position they are in as a result of this match and that would have pleased both managers as they look for European success.
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