Champions League Goalless draw with Lyon does the job

As it happened

While at times Sevilla pushed their luck in sitting back and soaking up the Lyon pressure on Wednesday night in their decisive Champions League encounter, a 0-0 draw was ultimately enough to push the Andalusians into the first knockout round.

Knowing that a two-goal defeat would knock them into their Europa League comfort zone, Jorge Sampaoli made his biggest step yet in defining himself apart from Unai Emery's tenure by guiding his side through a tricky evening in France.

Although the best early opportunity fell to Vitolo, the winger hitting the post from a tight angle after 18 minutes, the hosts created a number of good openings but had only themselves to blame for failing to beat Sergio Rico.

Mathieu Valbuena squandered a number of chances, hitting the bar midway through the first-half with a cute curling effort just as Corentin Tolisso's header was denied by the frame of the goal beforehand.

However, the midfielder's chance only came moments after Vitolo's tumble in the Lyon area went unpunished despite Anthony Lopes seemingly chopping the Spanish international.

A second-half penalty appeal for the hosts was confidently dismissed by referee Jonas Eriksson as the third-placed side faded, Sampaoli even feeling comfortable enough to throw on Wissam Ben Yedder on the hour mark to add some bite up top.

Late pressure forced the visitors back but Rico was rarely forced into action as a frustrated Parc Olympique Lyonnais began to filter out the plush new arena with plenty of time to spare.

The draw means Sevilla progress as runners-up, conceding just three times in Group H, all of which came against first-placed Juventus, who ended up three points clear of the Rojiblancos after a victory over point-less Dinamo Zagreb.

- Match sheet:

0 - Lyon: Lopes; Morel, Yanga-Mbiwa, Diakhaby, Rafael; Tolisso (Grenier, min. 77), Gonalons, Darder (Cornet, min. 71); Valbuena, Lacazette, Ghezzal (Fekir, min 64).

0 - Sevilla: Rico; Mercado, Pareja, Rami; N'Zonzi, Iborra; Mariano, Sarabia (Ben Yedder, min. 64), Nasri (Vietto, min. 86), Escudero; Vitolo.

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden).

Yellow cards: Sarabia (min. 31), Nasri (min. 35), Gonalons (min. 37), Yanga-Mbiwa (min. 53), Mercado (min. 72).

Parc Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon): Attendance, 52.423.