Sevilla 0 Atletico Madrid 0: Simeone´s men in fiery draw

Atletico Madrid’s La Liga title hopes suffered a setback on Sunday as Diego Simeone’s side were held to a 0-0 draw at Sevilla.

A disappointing week for Atletico Madrid ended with them dropping points in La Liga courtesy of  an ill-tempered 0-0 draw at Sevilla on Sunday.

Having lost 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League tie in midweek, Spanish champions Atleti were looking to bounce back and keep in touch with title rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona.

However, they instead produced an undisciplined and disappointing display at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in a game that will be remembered more for its fractious nature than any moments of magic.

Refeeree Carlos Clos Gomez dished out 11 yellow cards, with seven shown to Atleti players as Sevilla largely dictated proceedings.

The best chance of the encounter came in the 28th minute when Sevilla midfielder Vicente Iborra struck the post from Coke’s cross.

From that point on the two sides delivered little in terms of excitement as they settled for a stalemate that does little for either’s respective aspirations.

The result gives leaders Real the chance to go nine points clear of third-placed Atleti with a win over Villarreal in Sunday’s late kick-off, while Sevilla are seven points adrift of Valencia in the race for the final Champions League spot.

Sevilla had the better of the early stages and saw an early penalty claim waved away after Vitolo appeared to be brought down by Juanfran.

Atleti goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya was forced into a low save to prevent a half-clearance that had ricocheted off Tiago resulting in an own goal following great work from Sevilla forward Aleix Vidal.

Fortune continued to favour Atleti, who would have fallen behind had Iborra not been denied by the woodwork following Coke’s teasing right-wing delivery.

Diego Simeone’s men struggled to create much in front of goal, although Raul Garcia should have perhaps done better as he headed over from a free-kick.

Ill discipline continued to be a dominant theme after the interval, with Moya forced into another strong save down to his right to keep out Alejandro Arribas’ header from an Ever Banega free-kick after Vidal had been caught by Mario Suarez’s flailing arm.

For all Sevilla’s dominance of possession, they were almost caught on the counter-attack late on. However, substitute Fernando Torres fluffed his lines, firing wide of the right-hand post after beating a couple of defenders.

His inability to hit the target summed up a frustrating evening for Atleti, whose prospects of retaining the Spanish title they won on the final day of last season appear to be fading.