MADRID (Reuters) – Atletico Madrid huffed a locomotive against Lokomotiv Moscow, but suffered a disappointing 0-0 home draw in the Champions League on Wednesday, leaving them with a lot to do if they were to reach the knockout stage.
Atletico thought they had a breakthrough in the middle of the second half when Konke pushed for a rebound after Yannick Carresco’s shot, but narrowly ruled out a narrow rejection after a goal review.
Defender Jose Gimenez missed a glorious chance to catch the winner in the final stage, finding a corner but short of the width of the nearest post.
The draw left Atletico second in Group A on five points after four games, Lokomotiv third on three. Bayern Munich have qualified with 12 while RB Salzburg have finished last with one.
Atletico’s host Bayern may have to win both matches before next week’s visit to Salzburg in their final game and to guarantee a pass to the last 16.
“We are very angry, the Champions League is not waiting for anyone,” Coke said.
“We’ve been playing a good game lately, but now we’ve won the next games. We started with a lot of intensity and had a lot of chances but sometimes the ball just didn’t want to go inside.”
Atletico coach Diego Simeone was denied the luxury of returning to his squad after numerous players were ruled out due to injury or positive coronavirus tests .He started with 10 of the 11 players who beat Barcelona 1-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
His side still had a flying start and Marcos Llorente should have taken the lead in the second minute when Joao Felix crossed, but the 126 million euro ball failed to make contact with the front ball.
Lore Lorente, Yannick Carresco and Angel Correa did the test in the first half after keeper Gilherm, as Atletico ended the game with 20 goals from all four sides of the locomotive, while the visitors only made one attempt on goal.
The locomotive almost steals a winner in times added to the field of Atletico with adventure, but Stephen Sevik posed a decisive challenge to prevent a devastating target for the Spaniards and a lifeline for the Russians.
Simone added, “We weren’t clinical, we lacked freshness but we played well, we were intense and wanted to win, and we could have scored a few times in the opening 20 minutes.”
“The Champions League is going to be a bit difficult for us but we hope we can do better in our next game.”
(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Claire Fallon and Ed Osmond)
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