Juventus hold Atletico Madrid to goalless draw to reach CL knockout stage

Italian club Juventus held a languid Atletico Madrid to a goalless draw in an entertaining clash in Turin on Tuesday to secure their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Juventus just needed a point to qualify for the last 16, while the Spaniards had already qualified thanks to the four-match winning run that followed their opening day defeat to Olympiakos.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri had underlined his side's intention to go for a win with a two-goal margin that would have allowed Juventus to snatch top spot from Diego Simeone's reigning Spanish champions, Sport24 reported.

However, despite dominating in all departments, the Italians failed to convert chances into goals.

The draw means that Atletico finish top of Group A on 13 points, with Juventus second on 10 and Olympiakos, who beat Malmo 4-2, finishing third on nine to drop into the Europa League.

Juventus suffered a minor blow before kick-off when Claudio Marchisio was ruled out with a bout of flu and replaced by Roberto Pereyra, which forced Arturo Vidal back to the right side of midfield.

But the late change did not upset Juventus' plans as they restricted Atletico to only one real chance on goal in the opening half. Juventus were allowed to move the ball around with surprising ease, although they too failed to put the ball into the net, the report added.