Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos played out their second successive goaless draw in the Champions League.
Group D rivals cancel each other out yet again
Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos played out their second successive goalless draw in the UEFA Champions League in what was a poor affair in Russia.
On the same day Sir Alex Ferguson described Europe's premier club competition as the best tournament on the planet, the two sides in Group D did their best to undermine the Manchester United manager at the Central Stadium.
After drawing 0-0 in Athens in the reverse fixture a fortnight ago, the return meeting offered much of the same, although the hosts were marginally the better team on the night.
The result means neither team did their hopes of reaching the knock-out stages any good, paving the way for group rivals Barcelona and FC Copenhagen to book their place in the next round.
Rubin had to make do without Roman Sharonov, who was ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury but Carlos Eduardo returned to play in the hole.
Panathinaikos beat fierce local rivals Olympiakos at the weekend and were further boosted by Gilberto Silva's inclusion in the starting XI after serving a ban while Cedric Kante returned to European action after missing the last month with a hand injury.
Impetus
Both sides entered Tuesday's match searching for their first win in the competition but neither showed enough impetus in the first period to genuinely trouble the score-sheet.
The Greeks were afforded a great opportunity to open the scoring in the first minute from a back-pass but the visitors were unable to capitalise as Djibril Cisse failed to find the target, drilling his shot into the wall.
Luis Garcia was easily Panathinaikos' best player in the early stages and the former Liverpool forward attempted an effort similar to his spectacular strike against Juventus five years ago but Sergei Ryzhikov was more than a match for the Spaniard's fifth minute sighter.
Big-spending Rubin began to grow into the match and bossed possession but were struggling to carve out a meaningful chance. That was until the 15th minute when Sergei Kornilenko out-muscled Kostas Katsouranis before forcing Alexandros Tzorvas into making a decent stop with his feet.
The only moment of real quality in the first half came four minutes before the interval as Rubin midfielder Aleksandr Rtazantsev powered a header goalwards but Tzorvas managed to punch the ball to safety.
Intent
Kasaev's darting run showed Rubin's attacking intent at the start of the second half and the winger managed to pick out Kornilenko but he was unable to make the desired contact.
The much-travelled Boumsong looked lethargic in Russia and was replaced in the 56th minute after falling awkwardly by Stergos Marinos, who looked as unsure as his team-mate.
Rtazantsev broke past the Panathinaikos defence just after the hour mark after being slipped in by Carlos Eduardo but the Rubin midfielder over-ran the ball with the goal gaping.
Panathinaikos' Loukas Vyntra was the first player to earn a yellow card in the 71st minute and he was grateful for his goalkeeper who did well to hold onto Noboa's powerful free-kick.
Gokdeniz Karadeniz came on for the impressive Kasaev while Carlos Eduardo made way for Obafemi Martins as Rubin utilised their bench in the 73rd minute.
Karagounis became the second player in French referee Tony Chapron's book in the 76th minute before Gilberto Silva wasted a gilt-edged chance as he hit a tame shot straight at Ryzhikov.
It took 78 minutes for the moment of the game to arrive as first Rtazantsev was denied by the feet of Tzorvas before Cesar Navas somehow failed to break the deadlock after a wonderful flicked cross by substitute Karadeniz.
Rubin piled on the pressure late on but Martins and Salvatore Bocchetti both wasted opportunities and it ended goalless just like it did last time out.
| Rubin Kazan |
Team Statistics |
Panathinaikos |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 5 |
Corners |
3 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
18 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80 |
Passing Success |
79.6 |
| 18 |
Tackles |
23 |
| 83.3 |
Tackles Success |
78.3 |
| 54.3 |
Possession |
45.7 |
| 55.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.7 |
|
