Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur shared the spoils in a goalless draw at the BayArena that saw both sides come within a whisker of finding the all-important breakthrough.
Leverkusen made the brighter start with Stefan Kiessling threatening -- but Tottenham thought they had opened the scoring with 10 minutes on the clock.
The Londoners fashioned a move that ended with Vincent Janssen rolling the ball home after it was laid off by the in-form Son Heung-Min, returning to his old club, only for the offside flag to thwart him.
A raucous home crowd cheered every tackle by one a Leverkusen players, with Charles Aranguiz and Kevin Kampl making plenty as Spurs tried to lift the tempo.
After 21 minutes Erik Lamela found Kieran Trippier in space, only for the defender to produce a poor cross, while Hakan Calhanoglu was booked for a poor challenge on Victor Wanyama soon afterwards.
But Spurs were gradually stepping up the pace and should have led when Dele Alli arrived to meet Tripper's cross with a bullet header, only for his effort fizz wide.
Mauricio Pochettino's side were left wondering how they had failed to open the scoring five minutes before the break when Alli's shot was superbly blocked before Janssen headed Trippier's cross against the bar and Lamela saw his acrobatic effort on the rebound tipped over superbly by Bernd Leno.
Three minutes after the break, it was Leverkusen's turn to be denied when Hugo Lloris produced a stunning stop to repel a Javier Hernandez flick from on the line after Spurs had failed to deal with a cross.
Hernandez and his teammates appealed in vain that the ball was in, and the same player went close again when Danny Rose bravely deflected his volley up and over the bar.
Lloris stopped an Aranguiz free-kick and, as the pressure from the home side grew, Pochettino took off striker Janssen and replaced him with Mousa Dembele shortly after the hour.
As Leverkusen continued to take the game to their visitors Pochettino made another change, with Erik Lamela coming off to be replaced by Moussa Sissoko, but it did little to alter the pattern of the half.
Omer Toprak sent an effort from the edge of the area high over after Lloris had failed to deal convincingly with a cross before another home attack was brought to an end when Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen was fouled inside his own area.
Kiessling had a late chance to snatch the points but could only guide a driven cross wide of the mark with six minutes to go as the spoils were shared.
