Liverpool, Spurs advance
It finished England 2, Italy 0 on a tense night of decisive Champions League group games yesterday.
Liverpool advanced to the round of
16 by beating Napoli 1-0, though the Reds relied on a stoppage-time save by goalkeeper Alisson. Tottenham are also in Tuesday’s draw after defying expectations in Barcelona thanks to Lucas Moura’s 85th-minute equaliser 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 the San Siro.
Both English teams overcame nervous endings to finish runners up 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 began the night leading Group C but dropped below Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, who won 4-1 at Red Star Belgrade to advance in top spot. The four qualifying places in the other two groups playing yesterday were decided last month.
Still, Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win at Monaco meant they rose above Atletico Madrid – who 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 runners-up Schalke beat visiting Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0.
Group winners will be drawn against a runners-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 on Tuesday at Uefa headquarters.
Napoli and Inter are joined there by Club Brugge and Galatasaray.
ENGLAND’S REVIVAL
England are having a stellar year on the international stage compared to fourtime world champions 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. Italy could have hosted that mini-tournament next June but failed to advance from a group won by Portugal.
Now, England will have all four of its teams in the Champions League round of 16 draw because both Manchester clubs, City and United, already secured their places before playing today.
Liverpool gave their fans a nervous night at Anfield, scoring just once from 21 attempts on goal. Sadio Mane was the biggest culprit, wasting three clear chances to give his team extra margin for error.
Only a reflex save at the end by Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson denied Napoli substitute Arkadiusz Milik.
Liverpool will be without centreback Virgil van Dijk in their first leg at home in the next round. Van Dijk will be suspended for getting a third yellow card in the group stage. It could have been more, as a tackle on Dries Mertens followed through on the Napoli forward’s lower left leg and risked a red card.
Tottenham were minutes away from exiting the competition, trailing to a superb seventh-minute solo goal from Ousmane Dembele, who fired past his France team-mate Hugo Lloris.
Barcelona rested several regular starters, yet still dominated much of the game with Philippe Coutinho twice striking the woodwork.
Harry Kane then found Moura unmarked near the six-yard box to score past backup goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.