TURIN, Italy — Barcelona secured top spot in Group D of the Champions League on Wednesday with a drab 0-0 draw at Juventus, which will have to wait until the final round to try and qualify for the knockout stages.
Barcelona, which rested Lionel Messi for the first half, went closest to breaking the deadlock when Ivan Rakitic hit the post with a free kick.
Juventus remained second in the group but is only a point above Sporting Lisbon, which beat Olympiakos 3-1.
The Italian side — which reached the final in two of the last three seasons — visits Olympiakos in the final round, while Sporting travels to Barcelona.
The match was short on quality, despite featuring two such prestigious sides.
There were plenty of mistakes, notably from Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, who slipped in the middle of the area on one occasion and also lost the ball in a good position.
The Argentine also fired an opportunity over the bar, while both sides were guilty of some sloppy passing.
Juventus had beaten Barcelona 3-0 in Turin in last season’s quarterfinal on its way to the final. But the Bianconeri had lost at Barcelona by the same scoreline earlier this campaign.
Dybala was at the heart of most of Juve’s good moves and the Argentine almost scored at the end of the first half when he took the ball round a couple of defenders before unleashing a shot which flashed over the bar.
Rakitic had gone even closer with a free kick that went past a number of players in the area before coming off the right post.
Barcelona almost took the lead with another free kick at the start of the second period, but Luis Suarez’s effort was deflected over the bar.
Messi was brought on in the 56th minute but couldn’t spark the match into life.
Man United loses 1-0 at Basel in Champions LeagueBASEL, Switzerland — Manchester United was deservedly beaten 1-0 by a spirited Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday, leaving all the qualification places open in Group A with one game remaining.
Basel defender Michael Lang struck in the 89th minute to cap an impressive second half for the Swiss champion, which had struggled in the first half.
Lang arrived at the far post to slot in a low shot from fellow wing-back Raoul Petretta’s pass across the goalmouth.
Still, United leads the standings with 12 points, three clear of both Basel and CSKA Moscow, which earlier won 2-0 at home to last-place Benfica.
In the final round on Dec. 5, Basel plays at last-place Benfica, which has lost five straight, and Man United hosts CSKA.
The English giant was made to pay for a wasteful first half when it was in control without ever hitting top form.
Needing only one point to ensure victory in the group, United twice struck the frame of Basel’s goal late in the first half through a Marouane Fellaini header and Marcos Rojo’s deflected shot from 35 metres (yards).
But a passive start to the second period let Basel seize control. Lang struck the bar with a 65th-minute header and United goalkeeper Sergio Romero made a series of diving saves.
Tolisso leads Bayern over Anderlecht 2-1 in Group BBRUSSELS — Corentin Tolisso set up one goal and scored another to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Anderlecht on Wednesday in Group B of the Champions League.
After a lethargic first half, Bayern — which had already advanced to the last 16 — went ahead in the 51st minute with a lightning attack that dumbfounded the Anderlecht defence and left Robert Lewandowski with a simple tap in after Tolisso’s assist.
Anderlecht got its first goal in the Champions League campaign when Sofiane Hanni latched onto a header from Lukasz Teodorczyk and slotted home from close range in the 63rd.
Tolisso turned finisher in the 77th when he headed home a cross from the right to make the difference.
The result kept the German champion in second place, three points behind Paris Saint-Germain which beat Celtic 7-1 in the other group game.
Dost scores in each half as Sporting beats Olympiakos 3-1LISBON, Portugal — Bas Dost scored a goal in each half to lead Sporting Lisbon to a 3-1 win over Olympiakos in the Champions League on Wednesday, leaving the Greek team without a victory after five games in Group D and unable to advance.
The 1.96-meter (6-foot-5) Dutchman opened the scoring in the 40th minute after a tireless Gelson Martins found a gap in the Greek defence.
Bruno Cesar added a second three minutes later before Dost netted his second in the 66th, heading in a corner from Bruno Fernandes and again punishing the visitor’s lethargic defence.
The hosts looked comfortable for most of the second half at the Alvalade Stadium and rarely looked threatened.
Portuguese league veteran Felipe Pardo was Olympiakos’s main threat and helped set up Vadis Odjidja to score a consolation from distance in the 86th.
Juventus and Barcelona drew 0-0 in the group’s other match. Barcelona advances to the knockout stage as group champion.
Chelsea beats Qarabag 4-0, reaches Champions League last 16BAKU, Azerbaijan — Willian helped to sweep Chelsea into the knockout stage of the Champions League with a game to spare Wednesday, winning a game-changing penalty and also scoring twice in a 4-0 victory over 10-man Qarabag.
The win assured Chelsea of a top-two finish in Group C and left the 2012 European champion with a two-point lead over Roma, which plays Atletico Madrid later.
The match turned on the 19th-minute sending-off of Qarabag defender Rashad F. Sadygov, who received a straight red card for tugging back Willian just inside the area as the Chelsea forward ran onto Eden Hazard’s pass.
Hazard, who started as the lone striker with Alvaro Morata on the bench, stroked home the penalty for a sixth goal in his last seven games since returning from a broken ankle.
The Belgium international turned provider in Chelsea’s well-worked team goal in the 36th minute, back-heeling the ball into the path of Willian as part of a one-two to allow the Brazilian to side-foot a finish into the bottom corner.
There was little chance of Qarabag, the first Azeri team to reach the group stage of the Champions League, stopping Chelsea from becoming the seventh club into the last 16. And it was a damage-limitation exercise for the hosts thereafter.
That suited Chelsea, which eased off in view of its tough-looking trip to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday. Chelsea manager Antonio Conte even had the luxury of substituting left wing back Marcos Alonso and Hazard around the hour mark.
That meant Hazard was off the field when Chelsea was awarded a second penalty, for a tug on Willian by Gara Garayev. Cesc Fabregas tucked his spot kick away, only for it to be ruled out for encroachment, but the midfielder converted at the second attempt, too.
Willian made the victory even more emphatic by driving home a low finish from 25 metres in the 85th, taking Chelsea’s tally of goals against Qarabag in the group stage to 10. The English team won 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in September.
Qarabag was used to playing with 10 men, having had players sent off in each of its last two Champions League outings — impressive draws home and away to Atletico.
The home side, which had given Chelsea an early scare by hitting the crossbar through Michel in the 13th minute, has two points from its five games and cannot advance.
Chelsea joined Tottenham, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Besiktas, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the knockout stage.
CSKA beats Benfica to close on Champions League last 16MOSCOW — CSKA Moscow moved closer to a spot in the Champions League last 16 with a 2-0 win over Benfica on Wednesday.
Georgy Shchennikov gave CSKA an early lead, despite an apparent offside. Then an own goal from Jardel ensured Benfica — which is eliminated — slipped to its fifth defeat in five Champions League games.
The result lifts CSKA into second place in Group A, though Basel can take back the place with a win over Manchester United in Wednesday’s later game. For CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, it marked the end of an 11-year wait for a shutout in the Champions League proper.
"We played well today, really well organized and good on the counter," CSKA midfielder Alan Dzagoev said.
Under pressure to win because Basel has the edge on head-to-head if they finish equal on points, CSKA started with three up front, including midfielder Pontus Wernbloom as a makeshift forward.
CSKA took the lead in the 13th minute when Bibras Natkho picked up a clearance from the Benfica box and fed it through to Shchennikov, who appeared to be offside. The CSKA left-back scored with a calm finish.
Benfica missed a good chance to hit back almost immediately when Jonas fired a shot wide, while at the other end Dzagoev forced an acrobatic save from Benfica goalkeeper Bruno Varela.
CSKA made it 2-0 in the 56th when a cross by Vitinho was deflected into the net off defender Jardel’s thigh.
Vitinho missed good chances to score a second, while Akinfeev saved a free-kick by Jonas to prevent a Benfica comeback.
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