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Porto booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after seeing out a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico Madrid.

The Portuguese side's two goals in the 2-2 draw in the Vicente Calderon two weeks ago proved crucial, though in truth they should have emerged with a far more convincing scoreline, after dominating the second leg at the Estadio do Dragao.

A combination of fine saves from Leo Franco kept Atletico in the tie until the very end, though on two occasions the big Argentinian was thankful to see the ball come back off the woodwork in the closing stages.

Porto were the quicker out of the blocks in a high-tempo first half, with the movement of Lisandro Lopez and Cristian Rodriguez stretching the Atletico defence.

Indeed it was from a foul won by the Uruguayan Rodriguez that gave the visitors their first genuine scare of the game, as Bruno Alves sent the resultant free-kick sizzling over the cross bar.

Lucho saw an audacious chip sail over the bar moments later, before Atletico almost caught the home defence cold as Simao burst into the area and went down under the challenge of Alves. Referee Pieter Vink waved play on, though replays showed Atletico had good grounds for their enthusiastic appeal.

Antonio Lopez was the next to threaten for Atletico, driving in a low shot which Helton did well to hold onto, before Fernando forced an even better save from Leo Franco with a stunning volley moments later at the other end.

Aware that a goalless second half would see them exit the competition, Atletico raised their tempo at the start of the second half, though without ever threatening Helton's goal, despite the second-half introduction of Diego Forlan.

Indeed it was Porto who went closest on a succession of occasions inside the last 20 minutes, with Leo Franco to thank for keeping them in the tie. First the Argentinian made a superb reaction save from Rodriguez's header, though he had the crossbar to thank moments later as Hulk hit the woodwork from an audacious corner.

A superb run from Hulk almost resulted in a goal for Rodriguez on 81 minutes, though the Brazilian's cutback was deflected away from the danger zone by a crucial dive from the Atletico 'keeper.

Lisandro Lopez was the next to run in behind the increasingly ragged-looking Atletico defence, and could not be blamed for clipping his shot against the post off the tightest of angles after rounding Leo Franco.

And so it was with a whimper rather than a final siege on the Porto goal that Atletico went out. They will reflect upon an evening on which they were comprehensively outplayed, while Porto can look forward to a prestigious tie with one of Europe's giants in Friday's draw.

Michael FitzGerald / Eurosport