Astana vs. Atletico Madrid: Winners and Losers from Champions League
Astana held Atletico Madrid to a dour scoreless draw in Tuesday's early UEFA Champions League match.
The stalemate gave Astana their second point ever in Champions League group play. Atletico moved to the top of the Group C table with seven points through four matches, though Benfica will have a chance to overtake them later Tuesday.
Here, B/R selects the winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Astana
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The level of entertainment on the pitch might have been low, but Astana won't care. This draw represented just the second point ever for the Kazakh club in the Champions League. The first came earlier this season against Galatasaray, also at home.
This draw was considerably more impressive, though. Atletico are an elite club from one of Europe's top leagues, having claimed the Liga title in 2013-14. What's more, Diego Simeone's men took apart Astana in a 4-0 win in the reverse fixture last month.
Astana were much more difficult to break down this time, and they fully deserved the draw. It was also impressive that Astana managed a win with a big league game on horizon. The defending Kazakhstan Premier League champions will be hosting Aktobe on Sunday, and a victory will clinch a second straight title.
Losers: Clear Scoring Chances
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Clear scoring chances were in short supply at both ends, especially in the first half.
Before halftime, the best opportunity fell to Atletico's Fernando Torres in the 32nd minute after Evgeni Postnikov allowed the ball to bounce along the edge of Astana's box. But with only the goalkeeper to beat, Torres shot off target from a tight angle.
Atletico began to exert pressure in the final 15 minutes, but Nenad Eric was never seriously troubled in Astana's goal. The visitors hit the woodwork twice, but both were the result of errant crosses.
Loser: Entertainment Value
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Because of the lack of clear scoring chances, Tuesday's match wasn't much of a spectacle in terms of entertainment.
On Twitter, both Squawka and tactics guru Michael Cox called the game "awful." The Mirror's Ed Malyon was slightly more generous, and described it as "not a great game."
In all honesty, that's the best thing that can be said of the game as entertainment. It was surely a match to forget for neutrals.
Winner: Benfica
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The only winner from Tuesday's game wasn't even on the same continent. While Atletico labored to a draw in central Asia, Benfica were back in Europe, preparing for a home game against Galatasaray.
A victory for Benfica in that game would give them control of Group C. With two games left, the Eagles would have a two-point lead over Atletico and a home game still in hand against their Spanish opponents.
Then again, Benfica still have to travel thousands of kilometers to play Astana.
Loser: Atletico's Long Trek Home
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Having to travel 7,000 kilometers for a "European" match is never an appealing prospect. But now Atletico will have to do so after playing a disappointing match.
Admittedly, a draw isn't a poor result for Atletico, who moved to the top of Group C, at least for now. But ahead of the match, manager Diego Simeone identified this encounter as the key to his side's Champions League campaign.
"I have no doubt that of our remaining three Champions League games, this is the decisive one," he said, per Football Espana. "Why? Because all the teams who have been here have found it very difficult to win."
After losing at home to Benfica earlier in the group stage, Atletico knew they needed to win this one in order to keep pace with the Portuguese side. But after this draw, Los Colchoneros might have to content themselves with second place.
