Atletico Madrid frustrated by Lokomotiv Moscow in Champions League

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:12 am
Atletico Madrid's Mexican midfielder Hector Herrera, Lokomotiv Moscow's Cape Verdean forward Ze Luis and Atletico Madrid's Spanish midfielder Koke vie for the ball in the UEFA Champions League
Atletico Madrid's Mexican midfielder Hector Herrera, Lokomotiv Moscow's Cape Verdean forward Ze Luis and Atletico Madrid's Spanish midfielder Koke vie for the ball in the UEFA Champions League
Photo by YURI KOCHETKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Atletico Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at Lokomotiv Moscow in their Champions League Group A match after Lokomotiv goalkeeper Guilherme pulled off a string of superb saves to keep the Russian side in the hunt for a spot in the round-of-16

The result leaves Atletico second in the group on four points from three games, five behind Bayern Munich after they cruised to a 6-2 victory over FC Salzburg. Lokomotiv have two points and Salzburg have one.

Defender Jose Gimenez fired Atletico ahead in the 18th minute with a fine header from after an inch-perfect cross by Hector Herrera, a minute after Guilherme kept out a Saul Niguez shot.

The home side levelled in the 25th minute after a lengthy VAR check deemed Herrera to have handled the ball in the penalty area and Anton Miranchuk sent Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak the wrong way with a perfect spot-kick.

Angel Correa hit the crossbar for the visitors with a curling shot on the half-hour and Atletico continued to pile on the pressure after the break as Guilherme twice denied Joao Felix.

Koke headed against the woodwork in the 66th minute with Guilherme beaten but Luis Suarez saw his rebound ruled out for offside as Lokomotiv hung on desperately in front of a noisy contingent of home fans.

A last-gasp intervention by Murilo Cerqueira denied Felix a sitter in the 80th minute, with Lokomotiv struggling to keep possession and barely able to break out of their own half.

Atletico swarmed all over the hosts in the last 10 minutes but Lokomotiv's packed defence somehow held on, punting long balls upfield whenever they could to run the clock down.

Atletico also confirmed the signing of midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia in a €10 million switch earlier on Tuesday from Valencia. Kondogbia, 27, joins the club as a direct replacement for former Atleti midfielder Thomas Partey, who joined Arsenal in a €50m switch on deadline day.

"He's going to create more competition, give us more possibilities to play in different ways, and energy in midfield, in a very important season. We think he'll give us more internal competition, and whoever responds best will get minutes," manager Diego Simeone said in a news conference.