Real Madrid Secure Knock-Out Stage
Group H’s early fixture of the day had put Zenit in a possible advantage situation as had they beaten Juve, Real Madrid would have been under a tougher situation yet Zenit only managed to grab one point from the fixture. Juventus had numerous chances to take advantage and struck the crossbar twice. Both Mellberg and Iaquinta had efforst saved by the woodwork. Pogrebnyak meanwhile hit a beautiful long range shot which curled past Manninger but hit the post. The Austrian goalkeeper made good saves to shrug Zenit off.
Del Piero could have assisted Iaquinta when playing on the counter but decided to play otherwise and got a reply from Malafeev. The Russian defence was though up to standard as they blocked numerous consecutive shots from the Bianconeri. Juve youngster Giovinco was only brought on at 13 minutes remaining to the delusion of many Juventus fans who had wanted the youngster to start the match. Ranieri has already proved his critics wrong by leading Juve to 7 wins on the trot although that streak disappeared on Saturday after the loss to rivals Inter. Yet the Tinkermann still is losing the confidence of many fans.
Later on, Real beat Belarussian hopefuls Bate Borisov 1-0, thanks to an early Raul goal. This removed any doubts of Real Madrid’s qualification to the Knock-out Stage and thus Group H is now practically closed. Third sport sees Zenit qualify for a Uefa Cup spot should everything go as predicted on the final matchday. Matchday 6 of Group H sees Juventus host Bate Borisov and Real Madrid welcoming Uefa Cup and Super Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg.
Group H Standings
Juventus 11
Real Madrid 9
Zenit 5
BATE 2
