UEFA Europa League

Nine-man Sporting frustrate Atletico

PierrePhilippe/GettyImages

Leandro Damian Grimi trudges off after being sent off

Scoring Summary

Atlético Madrid	Sporting Lisbon

Match Stats

Atlético Madrid

Sporting Lisbon

11(3)	Shots (on Goal)	4(1)
6	Fouls	15
6	Corner Kicks	3
1	Offsides	2
53%	Time of Possession	47%
1	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	2
3	Saves	4

Teams

Atlético Madrid	Sporting Lisbon
43 David De Gea	1 Rui Patricio
17 Tomas Ujfalusi	13 Tonel
3 Antonio López	78 Fernando Moreira Ferreira Abel
21 Luis Perea	4 Anderson Polga
18 Alvaro Dominguez Soto	18 Leandro Damian Grimi
20 Simão	28 João Moutinho
8 Raúl García	24 Miguel Veloso
12 Paulo Assuncao	25 Bruno Pereirinha
19 José Antonio Reyes	7 Marat Izmailov
7 Diego Forlán	2 Pedro Mendes
10 Sergio Agüero	31 Da Silva Muniz Liedson
Substitutes
1 Sergio Asenjo	Tiago 16
16 Juanito	Pedro da Alves Silva 5
4 Mariano Pernia	Simon Vukcevic 10
2 Valera	Matías Fernández 14
6 Nacho Barnola Camacho	Sebastian Perruchet Adrien Silva 6
9 Jose Jurado	Hélder Postiga 23
14 Eduardo Salvio	Miguel Mondim Carlos Saleiro 9
Substitutions
Valera for Luis Perea (12)	Pedro da Alves Silva for Bruno Pereirinha (61)
Eduardo Salvio for Simão (58)	Sebastian Perruchet Adrien Silva for Miguel Veloso (85)
Jose Jurado for Raúl García (72)	Miguel Mondim Carlos Saleiro for Da Silva Muniz Liedson (90)
Yellow Cards
Tomas Ujfalusi (81)	Leandro Damian Grimi (9)
	Miguel Veloso (53)
	Bruno Pereirinha (60)
	Miguel Mondim Carlos Saleiro (90)
Red Cards
	Leandro Damian Grimi (31)
	Tonel (89)
· Squads: Atlético Madrid | Sporting Lisbon

Atletico Madrid spurned a great chance to take control of their Europa League last-16 clash as they were held to a 0-0 draw by a Sporting Lisbon side that ended the match with just nine players.

Sporting left-back Leandro Grimi was handed his marching orders after picking up two yellow cards in the opening 31 minutes, while Tonel was shown a straight red for pushing Sergio Aguero in an off-the-ball incident in the 89th minute.

However, a below-par Rojiblancos, looking for a cup double having also reached the final of the Spanish Copa del Rey, failed to make the most of their numerical advantage despite enjoying plenty of possession.

And in fact it was actually Sporting who came the closest to breaking the deadlock when, three minutes before Grimi's dismissal, Liedson struck the crossbar from 25 yards out.

Sporting made the short trip across to the Spanish capital in fine form, having recorded convincing victories in their last three games against Everton (3-0), Porto (3-0) and Belenenses (4-0).

Atletico were not short of confidence either though, having won their last league game here 4-1 against high-flying Valencia and having also dumped out Turkish giants Galatasaray in the previous round of the Europa League.

As such, there was little to separate the two Iberian rivals on the pitch and it was not until the 24th minute that a decent effort was fashioned, the impressive Aguero curling a shot just wide following a great run.

Soon after that came Liedson's superb effort.

The Portugal international had struck all four goals in last weekend's win over Belenenses and he was only denied another goal here by the woodwork.

Sporting suffered what could have been a major setback moments after that though when Grimi was sent off after scything down Jose Antonio Reyes when the winger was in full flight.

However, that would not end up costing Sporting too much as Atletico struggled to create much to concern visiting goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

Aguero was the biggest threat and he at least tested Rui Patricio a couple of times, while Tomas Ujfalusi headed a free-kick just wide at the start of the second half.

Atletico must have realised it was not going to be their night though, and even the late dismissal of Tonel failed to help their cause as they were held to a goalless draw.