Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone bemoaned his side's wastefulness in front of goal after they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Espanyol.
Simeone's side had 25 shots and mustered 2.71 expected goals on Wednesday, yet could not get over the line against one of LaLiga's promoted teams.
Visiting goalkeeper Joan Garcia made seven saves to ensure Espanyol took what may prove to be a valuable point in their bid to stay up this season.
Simeone said his side were undone by a "lack of precision" in front of goal.
"It worries me, as always, but I can't stop appreciating the good game the team played. When you have five clear goalscoring opportunities like the ones we had?" Simeone told Movistar.
"Well, they didn't go in, but the opportunities we created were the result of our play, not by chance. We expected to win, but they defended well and we were not convincing. If you don't score, it's very difficult.
"The team played very well, they made a very strong start to the first half. Then we dropped off a bit, that's why we made the changes. In the second half, we didn't have so many chances to score, but we played well."
Simeone made three changes at half-time to freshen things up, with Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Pablo Barrios coming on, although eyebrows were raised when struggling striker Alexander Sorloth, a big-money addition from Villarreal, was replaced by defender Reinildo.
"We never changed the system, we continued with a 5-3-2 to balance the team, which was starting to split," Simeone explained.
"The opponent could also hurt us and we balanced the middle with Llorente and Barrios."
EFL Cup: AFC Wimbledon rewarded with Newcastle tie after stunning Ipswich
League Two AFC Wimbledon shocked Premier League side Ipswich Town on penalties to reach the third round of the EFL Cup.
Conor Chaplin had equalised for Ipswich late in normal time to make it 2-2 but Dons goalkeeper Owen Goodman was the hero in the shootout, saving from Jack Taylor and Omari Hutchinson.
Wimbledon's reward will be a third-round tie at home to Newcastle United, who beat Nottingham Forest on penalties after drawing 1-1 at the City Ground.
Southampton booked their place in the third round after eventually coming through a 5-3 thriller away at Cardiff City.
Injury-time goals from James Bree and Cameron Archer got the job done for the Saints, who were pegged back three times by Cardiff earlier on.
There were wins for Wolves, who beat Burnley 2-0 at home, and Brentford, who won 1-0 away at Colchester.
West Ham defeated fellow Premier League side Bournemouth 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Jarrod Bowen and will now play holders Liverpool in the next round.
Last season's finalists Chelsea will host Barrow in the next round, while there are also home ties for both Manchester City and Manchester United, who will play Watford and Barnsley respectively.
Arsenal face League One Bolton at home, while their North London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur will travel to Coventry.
EFL Cup third-round draw in full:
Liverpool v West Ham
Manchester City v Watford
Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers
Manchester United v Barnsley
Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa
Coventry City v Tottenham
Walsall v Leicester City
Brentford v Leyton Orient
Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday
Preston North End v Fulham
Everton v Southampton
Queens Park Rangers v Crystal Palace
Stoke City v Fleetwood Town
Brighton v Wolves
AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle United
Chelsea v Barrow
Atletico Madrid 0-0 Espanyol: Simeone's men held at home
Atletico Madrid had 25 attempts at goal but could not find the breakthrough as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Espanyol in LaLiga on Wednesday.
Espanyol are the only team yet to score in LaLiga and they showed no signs of breaking their duck in a one-sided contest at Estadio Civitas Metropolitano.
Yet despite mustering 2.71 expected goals (xG), Atleti were unable to blow the door down.
New signings Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth came close to opening the scoring in the first half, while Rodrigo Riquelme had two goals chalked off for offside, the first after a lengthy VAR check and the second in added time.
Espanyol's rearguard held firm as goalkeeper Joan Garcia made seven saves to deny Diego Simeone's side all three points.
Data Debrief: Sorloth misfiring
Sorloth enjoyed a brilliant campaign with Villarreal last season, but the Norway international has so far struggled to replicate that form for Atletico.
In fact, he has now had his longest run of shots in LaLiga without finding the net (six), with four of those coming in this contest.
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Newcastle United (3-4 on pens): Sangare, Awoniyi misses see visitors through
Newcastle United defeated Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalties to book their place in the third round of the EFL Cup after a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.
Sean Longstaff struck the winning penalty after Taiwo Awoniyi blazed over for the home side.
Debutant Carlos Miguel had earlier saved from Joelinton to hand Forest the early advantage in the shootout but Ibrahim Sangare struck the crossbar to bring Newcastle back into the shootout.
Joe Willock’s goal, one of the earliest in the competition’s history, had handed Eddie Howe, who handed a start to Sandro Tonali following his return from a long ban, a dream start in normal time.
Forest improved markedly after the break and equalised through Jota Silva’s thumping effort.
The visitors looked the likelier to score towards the end of the tie, with Dan Burn going close from a corner and Harvey Barnes hitting the side netting with a thrashing effort.
Despite Forest holding the advantage in the shootout with Miguel's save, it was later squandered by poor misses from Sangare and especially Awoniyi, leaving Longstaff to knock home the winning penalty for the Magpies.
Data Debrief: Willock's goal tough to beat
Willock's goal 18 seconds into the match is, as would probably be expected, the quickest goal in the EFL Cup this season so far.
Newcastle got it done the hard way after their rapid start, though Howe will no doubt feel his team were the better side, seeing them have more shots (14 to 12) and accumulated over double the amount of expected goals (xG), with 1.92 to Forest's 0.91.
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