English teams edge Italians to advance in Champions League

GENEVA — It ended England 2, Italy 0 on a tense night of decisive Champions League group games on Tuesday.

Liverpool advanced to the round of 16 by beating Napoli 1-0, though it relied on a stoppagetime save by goalkeeper Alisson Becker. Tottenham is also in Monday’s draw after defying expectations in Barcelona thanks to Lucas Moura’s 85th-minute leveller in a 1-1 draw.

Even with that point, Tottenham still needed Inter Milan to fail to beat winless PSV Eindhoven — and it ended 1-1 in San Siro.

Both English teams overcame nervous endings to finish runnerup in their groups, and edged head-to-head tiebreakers with Italian rivals after finishing level on points.

A late goal in any of the three games would have changed the equation but Alisson saved Liverpool, second-half substitute Lionel Messi couldn’t lift Barcelona, and Inter failed to find a winner in seven minutes of stoppage time.

Napoli kicked off Tuesday leading Group C but dropped below Liverpool and Paris SaintGermain, which won 4-1 at Red Star Belgrade to advance in top spot.

The four qualifying places in the other two groups playing Tuesday were decided last month.

Still, Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win at Monaco meant it rose above Atletico Madrid — which drew 0-0 at Club Brugge — to win Group A.

Porto had already clinched Group D’s top spot before winning 3-2 at Galatasaray, and runner-up Schalke beat visiting Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0.

Group winners will be drawn against a runner-up and play the second leg at home in the round of 16.

Third-place teams transfer to the Europa League’s round of 32, which is also drawn Monday at UEFA headquarters.

Napoli and Inter are joined there by Club Brugge and Galatasaray.

England is having a stellar year on the international stage compared with four-time world champion Italy.

The English reached the semifinals at the World Cup in Russia, for which Italy failed to qualify, and advanced to the Nations League Final Four.