Man United draw leaves Champions League hopes in balance

Manchester United's Daley Blind is shown a yellow card by referee Pavel Kralovec after fouling PSV's Luuk De Jong.



Manchester United failed to seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League when they were held to a 0-0 draw by PSV Eindhoven at Old Trafford last night, leaving Group B wide open before the final round of matches next month.

United would have qualified with a win, but will now face the tougher task of claiming their place in the knockout round in their final match at VfL Wolfsburg on December 8.

PSV's hopes of reaching the last 16 are still alive too and they can qualify if they beat already-eliminated CSKA Moscow at home in their final game.

Wolfsburg, who won 2-0 at CSKA last night, top the group with nine points, followed by United on eight, Eindhoven on seven and CSKA on four.

Although both teams had their chances, overall it was a frustrating night at Old Trafford, where fans paid tribute to United great George Best who died exactly 10 years ago to the day aged 59.

They held up white torchlights in the seventh minute of the match in remembrance of the No 7 shirt he wore during his 11 years at the club in the '60s and '70s.

Despite the lack of goals, both teams played some fine football in patches with United going close to scoring three times in the first half although they lacked sharpness in front of goal.

Anthony Martial, who recovered from a foot injury picked up during France's international with England last week, had two of those chances, while Morgan Schneiderlin went close for United following a corner from Danny Blind only to see PSV goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet save on the line.

PSV defended well and soaked up the early United pressure before they began to create chances with Jorrit Hendrix testing David de Gea with a shot before the break.

PSV midfielder Davy Propper then fired straight at De Gea with a half-volley after playing some neat keepy-uppy before Jesse Lingard wasted a great chance to wrap it up for United after 73 minutes.

In Turin, Mario Mandzukic scored the goal that sent last year's runners-up Juventus into the Champions League round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Manchester City.

The Croatia forward struck in the 18th minute.

Juventus completed a double over the English Premier League side, who had already qualified from Group D after winning their last three games.

The Serie A champions, still unbeaten after five games, now top the group with 11 points and visit Sevilla in their final match.

In other Champions League action last night:

Atletico Madrid eased through to the round of 16 with a game to spare and eliminated Galatasaray when Antoine Griezmann's double secured a 2-0 win at home to the Turkish side in Group C.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic crowned a triumphant homecoming with a second-half goal as Paris St Germain crushed Malmo 5-0 to book a place in the last 16. PSG are second in Group A on 10 points.

Real Madrid beat Shakhtar Donetsk 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller at Lviv.