Olympiacos CFP battled hard to hold Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw in a Group C UEFA Champions League clash on Tuesday. The star of the game for the Greek side was goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis, who worked tirelessly to deny Real Madrid all three points.

Lomana LuaLua was the first one to set the ball rolling at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens when he tried a cheeky overhead kick in the second minute. Prior to the match Olympiacos coach Panagiotis Lemonis had asked his players to display some character and his goalkeeper never let him down in this game.

On 13 minutes Wesley Sneijder sent a precise pass to Robinho, whose crisp shot was saved superbly by Nikopolidis. Ruud van Nistelrooy the mounted a sharp attack on 19 minutes, but just when it appeared he was in the clear, Michał Żewłakow stopped him with a wonderful tackle.

On 21 minutes Darko Kovačević had a brilliant chance to put the home side ahead, but he was unable to connect with Predrag Djordjević's cross. Sneijder's corner was deflected on to the post by Ieroklis Stoltidis on 29 minutes and Madrid were unlucky on 35 minutes when Van Nistelrooy beat Nikopolidis, but his shot hit the bar.

Raúl Bravo, the former Real Madrid defender, tried to score with a nice long-range effort late in the half, but the ball went inches wide. Bravo was injured in the second period and had to be replaced with Rodrigo Javier Archubi on 53 minutes.

Van Nistelrooy had a decent chance after the break, but he was unable to connect with Sneijder's free-kick on 60 minutes. LuaLua had a chance in the 67th minute, but he volleyed over. The game petered out after this and both teams seemed satisfied with a draw.

Real Madrid top Group C with 8 points from four games, while Olympiacos are third with five points from four games.

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