Alisson stars as Atletico Madrid held by Roma

Atletico Madrid kicked off their Champions League campaign with a frustrating 0-0 draw away to Roma.

Diego Simeone’s side were guilty of spurning a string of chances in the first half with Saul Niguez hitting the post and Koke having a shot brilliantly cleared off the line by Kostas Manolas.

Eusebio Di Francesco handed a tournament debut to Gregoire Defrel and the Frenchman fluffed two good opportunities of his own inside the area.

With the home side content with settling for a point in the second half it was goalkeeper Alisson Becker who was the star man, producing two brilliant saves to deny substitute Angel Correa.

Last season’s semi-finalists continued to fluff their lines with Saul hitting the woodwork from one yard out in the dying seconds after his initial header was parried.

And after two 0-0 draws in a row, Atletico know they will need to be more clinical when they clash with group leaders Chelsea on September 27th.

Did Simeone get his starting line-up wrong by starting with Luciano Vietto? The Argentine forward was quiet for the most part and missed two good chances to score. Simeone had Fernando Torres and Angel Correa on the bench who may have put in a better shift with the latter looking bright when he came off the bench.

Alisson Becker (Roma): The Brazilian put in a strong case to be the number one keeper at next summer’s World Cup. In his first Champions League game, he commanded his area well and pulled off two wonder saves to keep out Correa in the second half.

ROMA: Alisson 8, Peres 6, Manolas 7, Jesus 5, Kolarov 6, Nainggolan 6, De Rossi 5, Strootman 6, Perotti 7, Dzeko 5, Defrel 5. Subs: Fazio 5, Pellegrini n/a

ATLETICO MADRID: Oblak 7, Godin 7, Savic 6, Luis 7, Juanfran 6, Gabi 6, Thomas 6, Saul 8, Koke 7, Griezmann 5, Vietto 4. Subs: Correa 6, Carrasco n/a, Gaitan n/a

3’ - CHANCE! Luis breaks from the left, he cuts it back for Saul whose first-time effort from around 15 yards out is narrowly wide. It looked to have clipped the outside of the post.

18’ - BIG CHANCE! Beautiful pass from Nainggolan to Defrel who snatches at his effort from inside the area and it skews wide.

32’ - CLOSE! Gabi is penalised for tripping Perotti near the box, the Roma man was looking for an excuse to go down there. But it's a free-kick for the hosts in a dangerous area, Kolarov cuts it back for Nainggolan whose low drive is deflected and brilliantly blocked by Oblak.

33'- AMAZING GOAL-LINE CLEARANCE! The ball is cut back for Vieto who leaves it for Koke who has the goal at his mercy and strikes it goalward but Manolas slides in to keep it out, with Iblask keeping out Greizmann’s shot on the rebound.

56’ - VIETTO MISS! Saul with a delicious through ball for the striker who scoops the ball over the onrushing keeper who gets a touch to it and it goes over.

63’ - TOP SAVE! Alisson keeps out Correa with a brilliant point-blank stop after the striker waved past two players in the area.

76’ - PENALTY SHOUT! Perotti is tripped by Juanfran in the box, it's a bit of a tangle. No penalty is given, looked to be the right call.

90’+1 - SAUL MISS! From a corner the Spaniard's header was parried and he then hit the woodwork from around a yard out!

Diego Simeone's side are unbeaten against Italian opposition in the Champions League in five games.

Edin Dzeko has only scored two goals in his last 17 Champions League games.

Roma have won only one of their last 14 matches in this competition, against Bayer Leverkusen in November 2015.