Juve, Barca enter group phase

Paris, Aug. 27: Former champions Juventus and Barcelona on Tuesday reached the lucrative Champions League group stage after safely negotiating away second legs in their final qualifiers.

Both the Italians and the Catalan club had cruised to respective 4-0 wins over Slovakia’s Artmedia Petrzalka and Poland’s Wisla Krakow on their own turf — but Barca were sluggish in going down 1-0 on the night to a goal from Brazilian Cleber early in the second half.

That sealed their passage 4-1 on aggregate while Juve, who were held 1-1 on the night, went through 5-1 on aggregate.

After Tuesday’s less than impressive showing which included a booking for French striker Thierry Henry, Barcelona will at least expect to welcome back Olympic gold medallist Lionel Messi for the group stages. The Catalan club open their league campaign against Numancia this weekend.

On Wednesday, five-time European champions Liverpool and 2006 runners-up Arsenal will bid to book their berths with wins over Standard Liege at Anfield and the Emirates Stadium over FC Twente respectively. The Gunners are as good as through after winning the away leg against Steve McClaren’s Dutch outfit 2-0. — AFP