Bale and Ronaldo fire blanks as Atletico thwart Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid 0 Real Madrid 0. There were five yellow cards but no goals as a pulsating all-Spanish Champions League quarter-final, a re-run of last season's final, finished all square at the Vicente Calderon stadium.

Gareth Bale described the outcome as a "good result" for Real Madrid, although the Welshman will still be kicking himself that he didn't bury the opportunity that came his way in the third minute when he had the chance to give the visitors the dream start. But his shot was saved by the impressive Jan Oblak, who also denied James Rodriguez.

"I thought we should have won," said Bale. "Especially in the first half we played the best against Atletico we have in a little while."

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Real, who have now failed to beat Atletico in their last seven encounters, were certainly the stronger of the two sides in the first half with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema spearheading the attack, and Bale posing a threat out wide.

The former Tottenham man found himself clean through on goal after just three minutes thanks to a slip in the Atletico defence, but Oblak pulled off a fine save to keep Bale at bay.

The Slovakian keeper was called on at least five more times over the next 40 minutes, athletically saving a 25-yard strike from Bale and blocking two shots from Rodriguez in the space of five minutes.

Real, who are seeking to become the first team to win back-to-back European Cups since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, became increasingly frustrated as the game wore on. As the aggression grew so the yellow cards mounted, and Atletico striker Mario Mandzukic was left bloodied after a clash with Real defender Sergio Ramos.

The hosts nearly pinched an unlikely win in the closing minutes when Iker Casillas was called upon to save Mario Suarez's overhead kick, but the game finished goalless leaving Real in the box seat ahead of the return leg at the Bernabeu next Wednesday.

"The first half was fantastic and we played with a lot of personality," said Real manager Carlo Ancelotti. "We did some great work going forward with some excellent movement but then we didn't finish off the moves well enough."

Though Ancelotti described the result as disappointing, Bale was more upbeat in his assessment, saying: "The most important thing from the away leg is we are still in the tie... we didn't concede."