Galatasaray 1 Juventus 0
A late Wesley Sneijder goal helped Galatasaray reach the Champions League knockout stages on Wednesday afternoon as they beat Juventus in a match that was abandoned due to snow on Tuesday night.
Sneijder broke the deadlock in the 85th minute after being set up by a knock down from striker Didier Drogba. The Dutchman's first touch was exquisite before he fired a low shot past Gianluigi Buffon into the far corner of the net.
Galatasaray's win lifted them above the Italian champions into second with seven points compared to six for Juve, who drop into the Europa League.
Real Madrid won the group with 16 points having beaten bottom side FC Copenhagen 2-0 away last night.
The game in Istanbul restarted in the 32nd minute today after it was stopped last night.
It will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Old Lady, whose manager, Antonio Conte, expressed concerns about the pitch as the players went off for half-time, just 14 minutes after ‘kicking off’.
Juve, needing just a point to progress, had the first opportunity in the 41st minute when Fernando Llorente fed Carlos Tevez in the box and his right-footed shot went just wide of the far post.
At the other end, Aurelien Chedjou should have done better but struck the ball way over the bar after a good cross from Sneijder.
Paul Pogba was first to test Fernando Muslera at the start of the second half with his central effort from 30 yards kept out by the Galatasaray goalkeeper.
The hosts then almost broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when Burak Yilmaz fed Drogba just outside the area and his goal-bound attempt towards the far post forced Buffon to make a one-handed save.
Gala continued to press forward and Sneijder sent a warning in the 84th minute with a 30-yard attempt that went just wide. The Dutchman made no mistake seconds later and Juve, stunned, tried to react but they ran out of time.
