Title holder Real Madrid fought to a goalless draw at city neighbor Atletico to leave the Champions League quarterfinal tie in the balance after the first leg Tuesday.
Real dominated the first half, but Atletico finished the stronger in its Vicente Calderon Stadium and is seven games unbeaten in matches between the sides.
Tuesday’s other quarterfinal saw Juventus edge Monaco 1-0 thanks to a second half penalty from Arturo Vidal in Turin.
Real, who beat Atletico in last year’s final, took early command in the rematch and the fact it was scoreless at the break owed much to home goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Read: Torres: Atletico can avenge final defeat
He thrust out an arm to deny the onrushing Gareth Bale as early as the fourth minute and was also alert to stop another testing effort from the Welshman.
Before the half was out he had made two further fine saves from Colombian James Rodriguez.
Atletico improved after the break without ever seriously threatening Iker Casillas in the visiting goal, a header from Arda Turan and later tries from Diego Godin and Mario Suarez its closest to scoring.
The commitment in the derby could not be questioned by either side and home striker Mario Mandzukic was left with blood streaming from his face after a clash with Sergio Ramos, the Croatian later booked then substituted.
He also appeared to be punched in the stomach in the penalty area by Dani Carvajal, but the Real player escaped unpunished.
At the other end, Karim Benzema hesitated when he should have shot and Cristiano Ronaldo saw a follow up effort blocked, one of his few glimpses of goal in a generally quiet evening for the prolific World Player of the Year.
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti was generally pleased with his side’s performance despite the inability to break the deadlock.
“I am satisfied, we worked hard all the game, in the first half we had better quality, the second half was more difficult,” he told ITV Sport.
Juve edges first leg
Juventus, hoping to complete a triple trophy triumph this season, started favorite in its first leg tussle with Monaco, but wasted several chances in the opening half.
Arturo Vidal twice shot over and Carlos Tevez was also denied, while Monaco, which got past Arsenal in the last 16, went close when Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco shot straight at Gianluigi Buffon.
Juve finally broke through just before the hour mark when the referee Pavel Kralovec pointed to the spot after Ricardo Carvalho pulled down Alvaro Morata on the edge of the penalty area.
Vidal fired past Danijel Subasic, but Juventus was unable to add to its tally ahead of the second leg next week.
