Juventus Out After Leverkusen Defeat
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) - Bayer Leverkusen have dashed Juventus's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a convincing 3-1 victory over the Italian giants in a group D match.
The Bundesliga leaders opened the scoring with a penalty from goalkeeper Joerg Butt in the 24th minute before the visitors fought back in the 61st minute with a header from substitute Igor Tudor.
Striker Thomas Brdaric put the home side back in the lead with a headed goal in the 71st minute and substitute Marko Babic then wrapped it up from a counter-attack in the dying seconds.
Leverkusen are now third in the group with seven points from five games and retain a chance of advancing to the knockout stages.
Juventus, who cannot now qualify, are last with four points, three behind Leverkusen and second-placed Arsenal.
Only Deportivo Coruna, who led on 10 points after their stunning 2-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday, have made sure of qualifying from that group before the last round of matches.
Suffering from the absence of several valued players through injury or suspension, among them striker Alessandro Del Piero, midfielder Edgar Davids and defender Lilian Thuram, the visitors looked sluggish and short of ideas throughout the first half.
The Italian side suffered a fright after just three minutes, a header from close range by striker Dimitar Berbatov requiring a crucial save from Gianluigi Buffon.
NOWOTNY BLOW
Leverkusen, who were missing influential Germany midfielder Michael Ballack, fighting a bout of influenza, found themselves without captain Jens Nowotny as well after just 12 minutes.
The German international had to be substituted after receiving a knock, leaving Carsten Ramelow to marshal the defence.
Inspired by creative midfield play from Yildiray Basturk and Ze Roberto kept their prestigious opponents under sustained pressure.
Midfielder Bernd Schneider had sounded a warning with a low long range drive which forced Buffon to show his class again when wingback Cristian Zenoni brought down Brdaric in the box.
Penalty expert Butt ran across the pitch to convert from the spot.
Juventus showed more determination after the break and went close on several occasions before Tudor levelled from a Zenoni cross.
But Leverkusen reacted swiftly, a perfect free kick from Ze Roberto setting up Brdaric for his goal 10 minutes later.
The visitors never recovered and the home side sealed victory when Babic netted virtually on the final whistle.
