Porto booked passage to the quarter finals of the Champions League with a solid scoreless draw against Atlético de Madrid at Estádio do Dragão. After holding Abel Resino’s side to a 2-2 draw at Vicente Calderón, Os Dragões were in the drivers seat with two important "away" goals.Humble in victory the Porto leader Jesualdo Ferreira said following the match:
"I want to say a big thank you to my players and to our fans; the fans because they stood by our side for the entire match and the players because they did exactly what I asked them to do. We improved a lot after the break but we were better from start to finish. We were always in control and we were the only team really willing to win the match. We were once again unlucky in front of the goal and for me Atlético's goalkeeper [Leo Franco] was the man of the match, as he was in Madrid."
With complete commitment to defending Atlético barely got going and rarely threatened Porto 'keeper Helton. After a modest early, with heavy emphasis on modest, the Spanish side couldn't advance in the final third of the pitch. Prior to the half hour Simão, formerly of Benfica, went down in the box but his claims for a penalty went in vain. Late efforts by both Hulk and Lisandro López came close to breaking the deadlock but each fell short and the match ended in a scoreless draw. With the result Porto now advances to the next round of the Champions League and awaits the draw.
Photo Credit: FC Porto
