Madrid freezes in dire stalemate at Osasuna
Real Madrid failed to take full advantage of Atletico Madrid's cancelled fixture with Athletic Bilbao as it played out a toothless 0-0 draw at lowly Osasuna.
LaLiga leader Atleti saw its game called off as the snow from Storm Filomena battered the capital, which also delayed Madrid's flight for the clash at El Sadar.
Whether it was the disruption to the travel or the freezing conditions, Madrid put in a turgid display and failed to muster a single shot on target in 45 forgettable first-half minutes.
There was little improvement after the break – despite two disallowed goals – and Madrid could only move to within a point of Atleti, which now has three games in hand.
The falling snow was the biggest talking point of a dire opening period in which Madrid saw 72.3 per cent of the ball without mustering any meaningful efforts.
The only action of note was when Thibaut Courtois smartly parried Oier's thumping header from Ruben Garcia's corner.
It took until the 49th minute for Madrid to test home keeper Sergio Herrera, who batted away Marco Asensio's bending effort with relative ease.
Karim Benzema did bundle home after Herrera brilliantly kept out his initial point-blank header, only for the offside flag to swiftly curtail the celebrations.
There was a sense of deja-vu in the closing stages when Mariano Diaz squirmed home from Benzema's take down but both men were offside when the initial pass was played, as a poor game petered out into a goalless draw.
