Atlético held again by Lokomotiv Moscow in Champions League

Atlético Madrid missed a chance to move closer to a spot in kckout st of Champions League after a 0-0 draw at home against Lokomotiv Moscow on Wednesday.

Atlético's second consecutive draw against Russian club left Diego Simeone's team with five points from four matches in Group A. It is two points ahead of winless Lokomotiv and seven behind defending champion Bayern Munich, which stayed top with 12 points after beating last-place Salzburg 3-1 at home.

Atlético and Lokomotiv had drawn 1-1 in Moscow.

Atlético got off to a good start at Wanda Metropolita Stadium and created several scoring opportunities early in first half, but with time Lokomotiv became better organized defensively and even threatened a few times on counterattacks.

Atlético came closest to scoring when Jorge “Koke” Resurrección's goal in 68th minute was disallowed for offside after video review. Defender Stefan Savic later missed open net with a lob that never made it to goal, and José María Giménez's header in 88th just went wide of post.

Wednesday's draw extended Atlético's unbeaten streak at home to 20 matches. A group-st loss to Chelsea in 2017 was its only defeat in its last 28 European games at home.

Atlético was without striker Luis Suárez and midfielder Lucas Torreira, who recently tested positive for COVID-19 while with Uruguay’s national team. Simeone also couldn’t count on striker Diego Costa because of a right leg blood clot detected on Wednesday, an ailment that could keep Brazil-born player sidelined for several weeks.

Simeone used Ángel Correa in attack alongside Portugal forward João Félix but y were t able to spark team's attack.

Atlético was coming off five straight wins in Spanish league, including a 1-0 victory at home against Barcelona at Metropolita on Saturday.

A moment of silence was held before match in hor of Diego Maradona, former Argentina great who died earlier Wednesday. His im was shown at big screen at Metropolita during moment of silence. Simeone is among many Argentines currently with Atlético.

Im credits: AP