TEHRAN - Esteghlal and Al Nassr Club football teams settled for a 0-0 stalemate in their AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 Round of 16 first leg at the Azadi Stadium on Monday.

Both sides had chances but failed to finish with Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr to host Iran's Esteghlal in the return leg on March 11.

Al Nassr were missing five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Aymeric Laporte, who scored the only goal when the sides met on Matchday Three of the League Stage.

The Saudi Pro League side dominated early proceedings with Angelo setting up Marcelo Brozovic nicely inside the six-yard-box, but the Croatian midfielder pulled his effort just wide off the right post, the-afc.com reported.

Esteghlal had a chance in the 14th minute when Mehran Ahmadi found space at the top of the box but struck the ball over the bar, with the midfielder forcing his way through again two minutes later, only to send his shot soaring over once more.

The first big chance of the game came in the 20th minute when Jhon Duran was denied from inside the box by Esteghlal keeper Seyed Hossein Hosseini with Rouzbeh Cheshmi keeping out Aiman Yahyah’s follow-up with a crucial headed clearance.

Saleh Hardani came close to scoring in the 25th minute when he tested Al Nassr custodian Bento from distance while at the other end, Hosseini kept out Duran’s low shot at the near post.

Esteghlal were lucky not to concede in stoppage time when the onrushing Hosseini failed to deal with Ali Al Hassan’s long ball, following a mix up with Mehran Ahmadi, only for Sadio Mane to pull his effort agonisingly wide.  

Etsgehlal started the second half with increased aggression but were left to rue missing two big chances with Armin Sohrabian and Ramin Rezaeian both squandering their headed attempts.

Duran should have scored in the 57th minute when Al Nassr took advantage of Esteghlal’s stretched defensive line following a fast break, but the Colombian forward failed to convert Brozovic’s clever through ball with Hosseini tipping away the lob.

Brozovic created another chance two minutes later with a delightful through ball into the box for Duran, who beat Hosseini only to be denied by the right post from a tight angle.

Neither side were able to break the deadlock with Hosseini pulling off a string of saves while at the other end, substitutes Jaloliddin Masharipov and Joel Kojo failed to finish to leave the tie tantalisingly poised.