On an inclement night in France, Marseille and Atletico Madrid failed to trouble the scorers.
Atletico grind out goalless stalemate in the South of France
On an inclement night in France, Marseille and Atletico Madrid failed to trouble the scorers.
A dreadful playing surface did neither side any favours as UEFA Champions League Group D reached its conclusion.
With their European future at stake, the hosts adopted a cavalier approach from the start.
Unfortunately for Eric Gerets his side played like strangers at times and failed to produce the required cutting thrust.
The French side were also prepared to leave gaping holes at the back and the only surprise was that Atletico were unable to take advantage.
Sergio Aguero, a man brimming with confidence, did skip clear early on, but the Argentine lost his bearings when entering the penalty area and dragged a tame effort well wide.
Panic
Ronaldo Zubar then wasted Marseille's best chance of the opening period on 14 minutes, the towering centre-half nodding a Boudewijn Zenden corner inches past an upright.
Dutch midfielder Zenden was causing panic with his dangerous set-piece deliveries, with Atletico seemingly lacking an organisational leader at the back.
It took 31 minutes, though, for either keeper to be tested, Taye Taiwo bursting forward from full-back to drill a stinging drive into Gregory Coupet's midriff.
Much of Marseille's best work at this point was coming from the fleet-footed Hatem Ben Arfa, but the France international consistently lacked an end product to his fancy flicks and mazy runs.
Atletico did look brighter after the break and Luis Garcia should have done better moments after the restart when he was sent scampering clear.
As it was, the former Liverpool man lingered in possession and allowed the home defence to regroup and shut him out.
Intricate
The intricate interplay was now coming from the visitors and although they failed to carve Marseille open they were able to put their opponents firmly on the back foot.
A spate of substitutions on the hour mark further disrupted the diminishing fluency, with the sloppy passing which had blighted the early exchanges returning to the fore.
Some comedic defending from the Spaniards then presented Ben Arfa with a sight of goal, but the youngster snatched at the rare opening and fired straight at a relieved Coupet.
Taiwo then tested Coupet's handling once again with a skidding attempt from 25 yards, but the former France No.1 was not found wanting.
With time ticking away it quickly became apparent that both sides were more than happy to settle for point, well aware of what their future would hold.
With Liverpool comfortable victors over PSV Eindhoven in the group's other fixture, Marseille will have Uefa Cup football to look forward to in the New Year and Atletico march into the knockout stages with their unbeaten record intact.
| Marseille |
Team Statistics |
Atlético de Madrid |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
0 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
1 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 13 |
Corners |
0 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 86.2 |
Passing Success |
74.5 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
29 |
| 82.4 |
Tackles Success |
79.3 |
| 53.4 |
Possession |
46.6 |
| 57.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
42.9 |
|
