Atletico Madrid have booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after drawing 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen in Wednesday night’s last-16 second leg at the Vicente Calderon.
Atletico entered the match holding a 4-2 lead from the first leg in Germany last month, and that score still stood at the end of the reverse match as Diego Simeone led his side into the last eight of the competition once again.
It was the visitors that came closest to making the breakthrough in the early stages, but Volland, who had been found by a brilliant pass from Kevin Kampl inside the Atletico box, could only fire wide of the post after turning away from Jose Gimenez with a fine piece of skill.
Atletico’s first chance of the night arrived in the 15th minute when Correa found some space inside the Leverkusen box before attempting to pick out the bottom corner, but Jedvaj’s block stopped the ball from finding the back of the net.
Hernandez was next to come close for Leverkusen in the 22nd minute after a smart cross from Julian Brandt, but the Mexican’s effort flew over Jan Oblak’s goal as the score remained goalless on the night approaching the mid-point of the first period.
Leverkusen remained on the front foot entering the latter stages of the first period, but Atletico were more than happy to sit deep and play on the counter-attack, which made space in the final third extremely difficult to find.
The visitors did come close to making the breakthrough in the 54th minute when Volland drove into the Atletico box and looked to pick out the far corner, but the forward’s effort just missed the post, before Correa sent a similar effort wide of Leno’s goal down the other end of the field.
Griezmann was next to come close for the home side just before the hour after Koke had released the Frenchman inside the Leverkusen box, but his chipped effort dropped wide of the far post.
Leverkusen continued to threaten, however, and Oblak had to be at his best to keep out a long-range Karim Bellarabi effort in the 74th minute, before the Atletico stopper prevented a Wendell strike finding the bottom corner five minutes later.
The Bundesliga side continued to press players forward as the match approached its final moments, but Atletico kept their clean sheet in tact as the La Liga outfit joined the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the competition.
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