Atletico Madrid 0-0 Villarreal: Suarez and Co have to settle for a point after goalless stalemate

The highly anticipated tactical showdown between Diego Simeone and Unai Emery played out as a goalless stalemate, as Villarreal left the Wanda Metropolitano with a point in the bag. 

Luis Suarez was hoping to build upon his hugely successful debut with his new club, though was unable to find the back of the net in a frustrating afternoon of football.

The former Barcelona and Liverpool man came closest to breaking the deadlock, but found himself thwarted by in-form goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo.

Luis Suarez couldn’t provide the spark Atletico Madrid needed to break down Villarreal 

Diego Costa came off the bench but failed to score Atletico’s best chances of the match

It was a frustrating afternoon for Diego Simeone as Atleti drew 0-0 for successive LaLiga game

Diego Costa arrived to provide late firepower from the bench and twice came close to snatching a late winner but on both occasions failed to convert Yannick Carrasco’s crosses into the box. 

Villarreal could also have found a late goal in an end-to-end finish, as forward Gerard Moreno volleyed narrowly wide.

Villarreal played the better football for most of the game and could have taken the lead in either half through right back Mario Gaspar, who was thwarted on both occasions by excellent saves from keeper Jan Oblak.

Unai Emery’s Villarreal provisionally lead the standings with eight points from five games, while Atletico, who started the campaign two weeks later, have taken five from three.

Gerard Moreno was a threat all game and came close to breaking the deadlock for the visitors

Jan Oblak made a number of top-draw saves and was unhappy with his side’s performance

Atletico went into the game looking for a response after being cancelled out by Huesca in Wednesday’s goalless draw but again struggled to break down their opponents, and Oblak was critical with his side after the final whistle.

‘We were too static in the first half and the more space we found the better we played but we need to play like that from the start. We should have got down the wings more and played more crosses,’ said the goalkeeper.

‘Villarreal planned the game well, they closed us down well in the first half and didn’t give us any space. They played well, we could have done more but we didn’t do enough to win. We leave here with a draw which we were not looking for.’