PSV hold advantage after Champions League draw with Atletico
PSV Eindhoven will head to Madrid with all to play for. The Dutch side, reduced to ten men after Gaston Pereiro was ejected in the 67th minute, gained a 0-0 draw against Atletico Madrid Wednesday night at the Philips Stadion the first leg of their Champions League knockout game. Both teams had plenty of chances, but PSV's stout defending -- and Atletico's well-remarked inability to score -- combined for a game that was a slow boil if not a spectacle.
Longtime fans could have been forgiven if they saw this game through the lens of the 1998 World Cup. Both managers are World Cup veterans (Philip Cocu with Holland, Diego Simeone with Argentina) and they memorably clashed in the 1998 quarterfinals, with Simeone losing the game in dramatic fashion to a classic goal from Dennis Bergkamp.
If this game lacked some of the frisson that classic encounter in Marseille presented, it did finally spark to life after a series of attempts over the top by Atletico that seemed to signal a route one game plan. Luciano Vietto latched on to a lob in the fourth minute that had Jeroen Zoet charging off his line â and beat. But Jeffrey Bruma, PSV's best player, managed to scamper back and cut out Vietto's chip off the line and away.
Koke tried the trick again for Atleti in the 17th, but this time Zoet was ready and made a decent stop. Atletico's best chance came in the 29th, when Antoine Griezmann was freed with a long clip over the back line and charged in alone on Zoet. An inch or two either side of the keeper and Atletico would have been on the board, but the keeper made a brave, one-handed stop to preserve a scoreless draw.
PSV had a handful of chances as well, the best coming just minutes later, with Davy Propper nutmegging an Atletico defender to run a one-two with Jurgen Locadia that Jan Oblak bravely blocked away. Jetro Willems tried to pop in a follow-up, but that too was blocked away.
Atletico pushed hard after the break, and actually had the ball in the back of the net in the 62nd minute when Stefan Savic headed home Koke's corner â but ref Daniele Orsato immediately waved it off as Savic had gone over a defender's back.
The break came five minutes later, after a silly moment from Pereiro. Already on a yellow card, Pereiro clattered into Diego Godin on the touchline and was immediately ejected. It was a needless foul, and there was palpable disgust on the PSV bench.
That set up a shooting gallery, with Gabi forcing Zoet into a diving spot with a swerving shot from 30 yards, and Fernando Torres hacking a half volley over the bar just moments later. PSV began to sit back, with nearly all ten men in their penalty area, as Torres and Gabi danced through the back line. Bruma bravely blocked a shot from Angel Correa in the 80th with his face in a scary moment; the PSV star looked as if he was knocked out cold on the play. Instead, he lumbered off for a moment and then came back on.
Maxim Lestienne had a late chance for PSV, but he could not put his half volley from an acute angle on target.
"I am very satisfied with this result," PSV manager Cocu said. "I said beforehand that if we could keep a clean sheet at home it would put us in a good position for the second leg."
As for Atletico, Simeone summed it up pretty succinctly: "The only thing we missed was scoring a goal."
