Steaua Bucharest picked up a useful point on the road by holding Fiorentina to a goalless draw in Italy.
Stalemate leaves Group F finely poised
Steaua Bucharest picked up a useful point on the road by holding Fiorentina to a goalless draw in Italy.
The stalemate - coupled with Bayern Munich and Lyon's 1-1 draw in Germany - means Group F of the UEFA Champions League remains finely poised.
Steaua, who lost to Bayern last time, made a lively start and had the first chance of the game in the second minute after winning a free-kick from 35 yards out but Banel Nicolita shot straight at keeper Sebastian Frey.
The visitors then hit Fiorentina, who drew with Lyon last time, on the break in the eighth minute but Antonio Semedo sent his cross from the left just too far in front of Dayro Moreno in the box.
Fantastic save
Adrian Mutu then sent a left-footed effort well over for the hosts before Robinson Zapata made a fantastic save to block Alberto Gilardino's close-range effort in the 11th minute.
Five minutes later, Semedo got behind the Fiorentina defence and latched on to a long ball but his shot went wide of the right post, while Gilardino headed just wide at the other end soon afterwards.
Nicolita then had his well-struck shot from just outside the box charged down in the 25th minute, before Mutu made a great turn to shoot from the edge of the box but it was straight at the keeper.
Semedo got behind the Fiorentina defence again on 34 minutes but shot wide of the left upright, while Sergio Almiron's long-range effort was straight at Zapata for the hosts.
After the restart, substitute Luciano Zauri had to make two crucial blocks from Moreno in the box.
Felipe then saw a low long-range effort go wide of the post for the hosts on 60 minutes after a well-worked move.
Hit post
Five minutes later, Mutu won a free-kick 30 yards out on the left and hit a great effort up and over the wall which hit the outside of the post and went out.
Juan Manuel Vargas had a free-kick from the same distance on the right soon afterwards, but blasted his shot well over, while Mutu headed into the side netting from a tight angle on 75 minutes.
Semedo then had the best chance of the night but his shot from the edge of the box was blocked by the left leg of Frey, who then saved a long-range effort from substitute Janos Szekely.
In the 89th minute Zdravko Kuzmanovic's shot was blocked by Sorin Ghlonea as the hosts could find no way through.
Pantelis Kapetanos could then have won it for the visitors deep into injury-time but was blocked at close range.
The latest results mean Bayern head the table on four points, Fiorentina and Lyon are on two points and Steaua are bottom just a point behind.
| Fiorentina |
Team Statistics |
Steaua Bucharest |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 4 |
Corners |
1 |
| 20 |
Fouls |
24 |
| 6 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 71 |
Passing Success |
66 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
23 |
| 70.6 |
Tackles Success |
73.9 |
| 52.7 |
Possession |
47.3 |
| 56.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
43.6 |
|
