Bayer were up against it at the Vicente Calderon -- a ground where the hosts rarely concede in bunches -- but almost had the dream start in the fourth minute when Kevin Volland got free in the penalty area and fired a left-footed shot just wide of the post. Atletico were next up to open the scoring, but Saul's effort from close range following an assist from Koke was somehow kept out on the quarter-hour mark.
The Bundesliga club continued to press, and Javier Hernandez was set up from 12 yards out after some intricate passing from Bayer, only for the Mexico international to fire his shot well over the crossbar.
Koke's shot from 18 yards was headed into the lower-right corner on 40 minutes, but Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno, the star of the opening 45 for the visitors, pawed it away to safety to preserve the 0-0 scoreline at half-time.
Needing three unanswered goals, Leverkusen threw numbers forward, and Hernandez was unlucky not to get on the end of a whipped-in cross from Volland to start the second half.
A quiet Antoine Griezmann popped up in the 57th minute on the end of a Yannick Carrasco through ball, but the France international's delicate chip over Leno floated just wide of the far post.
An Atleti giveaway should have led to Bayer's first, but Jan Oblak denied Julian Brandt on the doorstep and two subsequent rebound attempts from close range to preserve his clean sheet.
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