/ 4 November 2004

Juventus, Lyon advance in Champions League

Juventus and Lyon are into the 16-team knockout stage of the Champions League, joining Chelsea and Italians Inter Milan.

Alessandro del Piero’s injury-time goal gave Juventus a 1-0 victory at Bayern Munich on Wednesday. The win kept Juventus perfect in group C on a night that saw 23 goals scored in eight Champions League games.

Chelsea and Inter advanced on Tuesday. The Blues beat CSKA Moscow 1-0, and Inter drew 0-0 with Valencia.

Del Piero, who missed Tuesday’s practice because of a slight fever, pounced on a ball fumbled by Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn after he failed to hold a shot by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The loss left Bayern with six points, three ahead of the other two teams in the group — Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Maccabi upset Ajax 2-1 behind two goals from Baruch Dago.

Lyon advanced from group D with two late injury-time goals from substitute Nilmar to beat Turkey’s Fenerbahce 4-2. The game was level at 2-2 before Fenerbahce defender Servet Detin was sent off, leaving the Turkish side a man short for the last 15 minutes.

Other Wednesday games: Group A: Deportivo 0, Liverpool 1; Olympiakos 1, Monaco 0; Group B: Dynamo Kiev 2, Real Madrid 2; Roma 1, Leverkusen 1; Group D: Manchester United 4, Sparta Prague 1.

Nine-time European champion Real Madrid rallied from a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2 at Dynamo Kiev in group B. Raul pulled one back in the 38th and Figo equalised with a penalty six minutes later.

It was the second time this season Madrid came back from 2-0 down, after beating AS Roma 4-2 earlier in the campaign. Madrid, Dynamo and Leverkusen have seven points in the tight group.

Leverkusen drew 1-1 at Roma in a match played behind closed doors. The match was the first of a two-game ban that prohibits fans from attending Roma’s Champions League games.

The sanction was put into place after Swedish referee Anders Frisk was struck in the head by an object thrown from the stands in a game against Dynamo on September 15.

Man United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy was the big scorer of the night, slotting home four at Old Trafford in the Red Devils’ 4-1 home win over Sparta Prague in group D. United improved to eight points and Sparta have one.

Van Nistelrooy scored in the 14th minute, added a 25th-minute penalty and then netted the clincher in the 60th minute after Sparta cut the lead to 2-1 just minutes into the second half. He scored his final goal in injury time, chipping home a short-range cross with his left foot.

Lukas Zelenka scored for Sparta in the 53rd minute.

In group A, Liverpool and Olympiakos each picked up victories.

The two group leaders have seven points each, followed by Monaco (six) and Deportivo (two).

Liverpool won 1-0 on Portugal defender Jorge Andrade’s 14th-minute own-goal. Liverpool’s disciplined display at Riazor Stadium frustrated Deportivo, who are still scoreless in this season’s competition.

The Spanish team, last season’s semifinalists, remain in last place and are virtually certain to be eliminated.

Gabriel Schurrer scored with seven minute remaining to give Olympiakos their 1-0 victory over Monaco, who were the losing finalists last season against Porto.

Schurrer broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute after a free kick by Grigoris Georgatos was deflected to him by Giorgos Anatolakis. — Sapa-AP