UEFA Champions League: Slovenian Jan Oblak Dominated Madrid Derby [VIDEO]

The next chapter in the Madrid Derby ended much like the last six games have, with Atletico Madrid refusing to move an inch against their rivals Real Madrid. On Tuesday, during the much-anticipated UEFA Champions League quarterfinal match between the two teams, Diego Simeone’s side continued to do what they do best, stymie and frustrate Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

The match ended in a scoreless draw, setting up an epic showdown next week with the semifinals of the UCL on the line. Over the last seven games, Atletico Madrid is undefeated against their city rivals with a record of 4-0-3. One of the reasons for their unprecedented success is Slovenian goalkeeper, Jan Oblak.

Oblak was by far the Man of the Match for Atletico on Tuesday as he made eight saves, including some sensational stops in the first half. The Slovenian was so good his counterpart, Iker Casillas, called Oblak the “most influential” player of the match.

“I thought Oblak was the best player in the first half,” said the Real Madrid captain Casillas. “We deserved more from the game then, but he was fantastic.

Casillas only needed to make two saves in the match as Atletico was relatively quite on offense.

Both sides had their chances in the match, but Real Madrid appeared to be the more impressive side dominating possession throughout the game and firing 17 shots at Oblak.

In fact, if it wasn’t for Oblak’s first half heroics, this could have easily been a lopsided affair in favor of Los Blancos. This was the best game Real Madrid has played against Atletico in almost two years, and yet they have nothing to show for it. That should show just how good Oblak was.

The silver lining in all of this is that Real Madrid will now return home to Santiago Bernabeu stadium where they will need to break the tie with a victory against their rivals.

“The tie is open,” added Casillas. “Very open. The return will be a nice game. We have a good chance to go through. Hopefully, playing at home can help us win.”

The two teams will meet again on Wednesday, April 22^nd where a team from Madrid will advance to the UEFA Champions League semifinals. One thing is for certain, one of the two teams who played in the UCL Final last May, will not be returning this year.