MILAN (Reuters) - Atalanta, missing leading scorer Duvan Zapata through suspension, earned a crucial point in their chase for an unlikely Champions League place when they held Inter Milan to a 0-0 draw at soggy San Siro on Sunday.
The draw pulled Atalanta level on 52 points with AC Milan who began the day in fourth place, the lowest of the Champions League slots. Inter are third with 57.
It was a frustrating San Siro return for Inter forward Mauro Icardi, playing his first home game since he was stripped of the captaincy in mid-February and then said he had a knee injury.
Icardi had Inter's best first-half chance when he found himself alone in the penalty area with only Pierluigi Gollini to beat but the goalkeeper managed to block the Argentine's attempted chip.
Atalanta, however, were the more coherent team and missed similar chances either side of halftime when first Alejandro Gomez and then Josip Ilicic drove a low ball across the face of the goal but nobody could provide the finishing touch.
(Writing by Brian Homewood; editing by Clare Fallon)