Atletico Madrid in trouble after shock draw at Qarabag

A shock away draw to Qarabag means Atletico Madrid are winless after the first half of their Champions League group campaign.

Atletico Madrid’s Champions League hopes were severely dented as they struggled to a poor 0-0 draw away to 10-man Qarabag.

Antoine Griezmann squandered the best chance of a first half that was lacking in drama.

And Qarabag, making their first appearance in the Champions League this season, looked the more threatening team after the break until forward Dino Ndlovu was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for diving with 15 minutes remaining.

That prompted a late spell of Atletico pressure, but the side from Azerbaijan held on to claim their first point in the competition.

The shock draw leaves Diego Simeone’s side struggling on two points from their first three matches, with Group C leaders Chelsea and secondplaced Roma to play later on Wednesday. Atleti are without a win in four across all competitions.

After a quiet opening 25 minutes in the first competitive meeting between the two sides passed without a chance being created, Atletico threatened first when Filipe Luis’ cut-back led to Nicolas Gaitan blazing over from 12 yards.

An even better opportunity went begging when Yannick Carrasco raced clear after getting the better of defender Maksim Medvedev, but he was denied by Ibrahim Sehic, as the Qarabag goalkeeper rushed out to save.

Saul Niguez’s header was kept out, before a glorious chance went begging when Kevin Gameiro slipped Griezmann through on goal at the second attempt, only for the France international to fail to find the bottom corner, with Sehic getting down to make an excellent reaction stop.

Jose Gimenez volleyed wide from the resulting corner, with Qarabag satisfied to reach the interval on level terms.

It was Qarabag who made the better start to the second half, and Ndlovu was angry to have a penalty claim turned down under pressure from Sime Vrsaljko just outside the penalty area, while Richard Almeida had a deflected effort saved by Jan Oblak.

Simeone brought on Thomas Partey, Angel Correa and Fernando Torres in a bid to change the momentum, but Ndlovu fired narrowly over as the hosts continued to threaten an upset.