In its first Champions League quarterfinals match in team history, Malaga held Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund to a 0-0 draw at home.
While Malaga was unable to take advantage of home field advantage, they did not concede a deadly away goal that would have put them in a tight spot heading into the second leg next week.
"Both teams played an extremely good match trying to push forward into the opponents' half," said the Málaga coach Manuel Pellegrini. "We will go for goals from the start [in Germany]."
"We found what we expected to find, a team with players who are very good with the ball. Both sides went for it tonight and it made for a good open game," he added. "I don't think the game in Germany will be too different from tonight, only an early goal for either team could change things."
Borussia will now hold home field advantage, but would have taken control of the matchup with a goal. However, Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp did not seem to upset about the draw. "It's impossible to knock Málaga off their stride and that is the big danger. But we managed to get a decent result ... they were unruffled by our scoring chances and became more and more dangerous themselves. I can live with this 0-0. We did everything well from the first kick to the final whistle but it's a higher level.
The return leg takes place on April 9, 2013.