Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/226023
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2013 SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Galatasaray v Juventus abandoned Tuesday night's winner-takes-all Champions League encounter between Galatasaray and Juventus was abandoned after only 33 minutes due to a severe hailstorm in Istanbul, the match will resume today at 13:00 THE Italian champions needed to avoid defeat at the Turk Telecom Arena to book second place in Group B and progression to the knockout stages, while a Galatasaray victory would have seen Roberto Mancini's men safely through to the last 16. Snow and hail began to seriously affect play after about 20 minutes and the game was ultimately suspended in the 33rd minute following discussions between UEFA delegates, Pedro Proenca's refereeing team and both James Milner celebrates Manchester City's winner sets of players. A statement published on the official UEFA Champions League Twitter account read: "The #UCL fixture between @GalatasaraySK & @juventusfc has been abandoned after a snow storm caused the pitch to become unplayable. "According to article 11.04 of the competition regulations, the remaining match time must be played either tomorrow or on a reserve date or other date set by the UEFA administration." It was then decided that the match will resume today at 13:00. Juventus had enjoyed the better chances of the interrupted clash in Turkey and Fernando Llorente missed a gilt-edged chance to put the Serie A side ahead in the 16th minute. At the end of a swift counter-attack, the Spanish striker found himself in a good position in the Gala box to control Arturo Vidal's cross before flicking it just wide of a post. Former Juve midfielder Felipe Melo had earlier tested goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from distance while Selcuk Inan sent a free-kick wide of the visitors' goal before the snow began to fall. Groundsman attempted to clear snow from the lines marking the pitch but the weather showed no signs of abating and brought an early end to proceedings. Gala were level on four points with FC Copenhagen going into Tuesday night's fixtures but have a better goal difference against the Danes, who were hosting already-qualified Real Madrid in the other group game. In other matches, Manchester City came back from 2-0 down to pull off a remarkable 3-2 victory at Bayern Munich, but it was not quite enough to see the Blues leapfrog their hosts into top spot in Champions League Group D. Phil Jones secured a 1-0 win for Manchester United over Shakhtar Donetsk to finish top of Champions League Group A. Omer Toprak fired Bayer Leverkusen into the last 16 of the Champions League as his second-half goal was enough to claim a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad. Javier Saviola pleased his current paymasters but irked his old ones as his brace made sure Olympiacos did not pay a Champions League penalty in a 3-1 victory over Anderlecht. Super-sub Tomas Wagner scored a last-minute winner to fire Viktoria Plzen into the Europa League on the back of a shock 2-1 Champions League win over nine-man CSKA Moscow. Real Madrid put the seal on a fine Champions League group-stage campaign as they won 2-0 at FC Copenhagen on Tuesday - even if Cristiano Ronaldo did miss a penalty in the process. Benfica rallied to end Paris St Germain's perfect record in this year's Champions League with a 2-1 victory but it was not enough to secure their place in the knockout phase. Yesterday's Champions League results Manchester U. - Shakhtar D. 1-0 Real sociedad - Bayern Lev. 0-1 FC Kobenhavn - Real Madrid 0-2 Galatasaray - Juventus Aband. Benfica - Paris Saint Germain 2-1 Olympiakos - Anderlecht 3-1 Bayern M. - Manchester C. 2-3 Viktoria Plzen - CSKA Moscow 2-1 Tonight's Champions League matches Chelsea - Steaua Bucuresti Schalke 04 - Basel Marseille - Borussia Dortmund SSC Napoli - Arsenal Atletico Madrid - FC Porto Austria Wien - Zenit Petersburg AC Milan - Ajax Barcelona - Celtic All Matches start at 20:45 Galatasaray - Juventus 13:00