Leverkusen share spoils with Tottenham in UEFA Champions League

Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur played out a goalless stalemate at the third round in Group E of UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

It was a group encounter with two very different halves with Tottenham dominating the first half and hosts taking the reins after the restart. However, both sides squandered a couple of chances to break the deadlock at both ends of the pitch.

The visitors caught the better start on the road as Dele Alli, who had all time and space following Kieran Trippier's cross into the box, headed just wide of the target with 27 minutes into the game.

Mauricio Pochettino's men gained momentum and pressed the hosts into the defence but yet they lacked in accuracy, as Vincent Janssen's effort rattled the bar before Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno denied Erik Lamela's follow up shot from close range.

Leverkusen worked out their first chance in the dying minutes of the game through Javier Hernandez, who pulled just wide of the right post.

After the restart, Roger Schmidt's immediately piled on the pressure but Hernandez wasted a golden opportunity to open the scoring as Tottenham custodian Hugo Lloris denied the Mexican with a reflex save from two meters.

The hosts continued to reap chances in quick succession but neither Charles Aranguiz nor Hernandez were able to reward their team for the powerful second half performance.

"We were the better team in the first half," Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio Pochettino said in the post-game press conference. "Our Goalkeeper Lloris has saved us one point here. We have to be thankful."

"We had plenty of chances to score and we should have rewarded ourselves with a goal," Bayer Leverkusen skipper Lars Bender said.

With the result, Leverkusen maintained unbeaten streak in Group whereas Tottenham Hotspur settled on the first draw. The "Werkself" stay on the third place while the "Spurs" remain on the second place. Endit