Stalemate in the fight for Europe

The Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán witnessed one of the stand-out duels of matchday 25 of the Liga BBVA, as Sevilla FC took on Atlético Madrid. The clubs in third and fifth played out a goalless draw in which Vicente Iborra enjoyed the clearest chance.

Both sides struggled to move the ball during a tight opening 45 minutes, although Unai Emery's men monopolised possession. Los hisaplenses had the better of the first period and Iborra, from a pass by Jorge Andújar 'Coke', produced an effort that struck the post. The visitors sought to link up to create attacking play, but came up against the Sevilla defence.

In the second half, Iborra was again at the centre of a moment of concern for Miguel Ángel Moyà from a free-kick delivered by Éver Banega, but the goalkeeper dealt with it comfortably. Fernando Torres' introduction brought about more Atlético attacks on the home penalty area; the man from Fuenlabrada crossed for Griezmann on 61', but the Frenchman was unable to get a good connection on the ball.

Another second-half substitute, José Antonio Reyes, tried his luck with a long-range shot, as did team-mate Vitolo, but both attempts were off target. The encounter finished scoreless, meaning that there was no change to either outfit’s position in the table: the Andalusians are fifth with 46 points, while the team from the capital are on 54 and sit third.