UCL: Juventus beat Man City, Barcelona into knockout stage

Get the latest football news on the UEFA Champions League (UCL) match where Juventus defeated Manchester City, and Barcelona secured their spot in the knockout stage. Stay updated on all the action in the world of football.

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Daniel A.
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UCL: Juventus beat Man City, Barcelona into knockout stage

Manchester City has lost seven of its last ten games and is, therefore, mathematically out of the Champions League top eight after losing to Juventus on tuesday night. 

While Pep Guardiola's former team, Barcelona, advanced to the next round of Europe's top club tournament with a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City's woes deepened with a 2-0 loss to Juventus on Wednesday.

Though other teams won, including Arsenal, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Lille, Feyenoord, and Stuttgart, the media will focus on City's latest defeat in a terrible streak.

After 2023 European champions Ederson failed to save a header from Dusan Vlahovic early in the second half, Juventus took the lead in Turin.

Weston McKennie scored a spectacular acrobatic goal in the 75th minute after Michele Di Gregorio made a great save to keep the score at 2-1. Ilkay Gundogan had an equalizer saved by Di Gregorio.

The outcome puts Juventus on 11 points with two games remaining, sufficient to ensure they secure a spot in the playoffs for the knockout round.

Meanwhile, City have only managed one victory in their last ten matches, losing seven.

They have eight points, putting them in 22nd place in the standings; only the top 24 make it to the playoffs. Next up for Guardiola's squad is a must-win matchup against Paris Saint-Germain, who are currently in last place in the league.

"We have to get points; we'll go to Paris to try and do that, and the same goes for the final match at home (to Club Brugge)," Guardiola told Amazon Prime in Italy.

In a nail-biting match in Germany, Barcelona defeated Dortmund 3-2 thanks to a goal from Ferran Torres. They now have 15 points, second only to Liverpool.

Barça took the lead early in the second half thanks to Raphinha's goal, his 17th of the season.

On the hour mark, Serhou Guirassy scored a penalty to tie the game. However, Barça retook the lead on 75 minutes when replacement Torres converted a loose ball after a save from Fermin Lopez.

Guirassy quickly scored again to tie the game, but Barça won in the last five minutes thanks to a goal from Torres.

Like Liverpool, Barcelona is in a great position to finish in the top eight, allowing them to skip the playoffs and move straight to the round of 16.

Saka Stars, Arsenal cruise

After Monaco's 3-0 defeat in London, Arsenal moved up to 13 points and into third place in the league.

After Bukayo Saka put the Gunners ahead in the first half, the hosts doubled their lead in 78 minutes thanks to Monaco's dreadful defense.

After that, Saka set up the late third goal, which replacement Kai Havertz finished off.

Mikel Arteta's squad is one of six teams with thirteen points; Lille is also on thirteen following a 3-2 victory against Sturm Graz in France, won by Hakon Haraldsson in stoppage time.

Mitchel Bakker and Osame Sahraoui put Lille up 2-0, but Otar Kiteishvili and Mika Biereth scored for the reigning Austrian champions to equalize the score.

Nevertheless, the fourth victory of the season for Lille was achieved by Icelandic midfielder Haraldsson.

Antoine Griezmann scored twice in Atletico's 3-1 win against Slovan Bratislava, with a superb strike from Julian Alvarez giving the hosts the lead.

The Slovaks are already out of the tournament due to their six-game losing streak; David Strelec got them back on the board. Young Boys and RB Leipzig are the others.

Milan grabs late winner.

Tammy Abraham scored the game-winning goal for Milan in the 93rd minute of their 2-1 San Siro victory against Red Star Belgrade.

The Serbs have lost five of their last six games and are certainly going out after Nemanja Radonjic leveled for Serbia after Rafael Leao put Milan ahead.

With a scoreless draw against Bologna, an Italian team that has failed to score in their last six games, Benfica moved closer to a playoff berth.

With goals from Santiago Gimenez, Gernot Trauner, Igor Paixao, and Anis Hadj Moussa, Feyenoord defeated Sparta Prague 4-2 in Rotterdam and remained in the playoff hunt.

After falling early, Stuttgart rallied to defeat Young Boys 5-1, preserving their chances of advancing.

Angelo Stiller tied the score after Young Boys took the lead via Lukasz Lakomy. The second half saw goals from Enzo Millot, Chris Fuehrich, Joshua Vagnoman, and Yannik Keitel.

January 21 and 22 will see the return of the Champions League, with the league phase coming to a close the week after.

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