Sports

TURIN, Italy — Barcelona allowed themselves the luxury of starting with Lionel Messi on the bench and still held out for a 0-0 draw at Juventus to reach the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Barcelona, who brought on Messi early in the second half, enjoyed long spells of possession but used it as a defensive tactic to stop Juventus attacking rather than creating chances themselves.

Juve were lacklustre, with forward Gonzalo Higuain barely getting a look-in as they failed to score in a home match for the first time since September last year.

The Turin side nearly snatched a win in stoppage time but Paulo Dybala’s low shot from the edge of the area was turned around the post by goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Even so, coach Massimiliano Allegri enjoyed the match. “It was a nice game from a tactical point of view, the lads worked hard to defend well,” he said. “We were more interested in the performance than the result.” 

The Serie A side, who are second in Group D, will qualify for the last 16 unless they fail to beat Olympiakos away in their final game next month and Sporting win at Barcelona.

Sporting kept alive their own hopes by beating Olympiakos 3-1 in Lisbon in the other game with Bas Dost scoring twice. Bruno Cesar was also on target for Sporting and Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe scored a late consolation for the Greeks who were eliminated.

Barcelona, who played their second successive goalless draw in the group, have 11 points and are guaranteed to finish top. Juve are on eight, Sporting on seven and Olympiakos on one.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said that Messi had needed a rest. “He had to take a break at some point... he’s been playing a lot of games,” he said.

Barcelona were closest to a first-half goal when a long-range Ivan Rakitic free kick found its way through the penalty area, bounced off the post and fell to Paulinho, who was unable to take advantage.

Paulinho’s other notable contribution was to be booked for diving in the penalty area while Luis Suarez was largely anonymous.

Dybala had Juve’s best first-half effort when he dribbled around three defenders but he fired over from a difficult angle.

Messi’s entrance changed little although the Argentine came close when he curled a long-range free kick over the bar.

Barcelona should have scored when Juan Cuadrado slipped and let in Lucas Digne but, instead of shooting, he tried to pass to Suarez and the Juve defence intercepted the ball.

The most entertaining moment came after the final whistle when Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon took off his gloves and his shorts and threw them into the crowd.

Chelsea breezed into the last 16 of the Champions League after being helped to their 4-0 stroll over 10-man Qarabag by the award of a hotly-disputed first-half penalty and sending off in Baku.

Antoine Griezmann’s spectacular scissors-kick helped earn Atletico Madrid a 2-0 win over Roma on Wednesday to keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the Champions League last 16.

NICOSIA — Holders Real Madrid sealed a place in the Champions League last 16 with a thumping 6-0 victory at APOEL Nicosia on Tuesday after doubles from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, but will still finish runners-up to Tottenham Hotspur in Group H.

Ronaldo wrapped up Real’s biggest Champions League away win with two goals at the start of the second half. He now has 18 in the competition this year, extending his record from 16 and taking his overall Champions League scoring record to 113.

Zinedine Zidane’s side, who have been inconsistent in La Liga this season, were already coasting thanks to first-half goals from Luka Modric, a Karim Benzema double and Nacho strike.

Spurs’ 2-1 win at Borussia Dortmund means they have claimed top spot on 13 points, with a game to spare, ahead of Real on 10 points. APOEL will fight it out with Dortmund for third place and a Europa League spot, with both teams on two points.

“We can’t do anything about finishing second now. Other teams will not want to face us in the next round and we will do our best to qualify [from the last 16],” said Zidane.

“We know Ronaldo and Benzema are good players and they were going to score sooner rather than later. In a season you always have tough moments but we always thought they would improve.”

Ronaldo added: “We knew before the game that we needed to win to go through to the next round. We played very well, we scored six times and the team played amazing football. We are very happy. The job was done.”

Defence freezes

Modric opened the scoring for Real in the 22nd minute with a bouncing volley from the edge of the penalty area after APOEL’s Vinicius failed to clear a Dani Carvajal cross from the right.

Benzema doubled the lead in the 39th minute when he was put clean through by Toni Kroos, following neat interplay between the German, the Frenchman and Portuguese Ronaldo.

APOEL’s defence appeared to freeze in the build-up after they thought the referee would blow for a foul on Ronaldo. Benzema made no mistake though ending his recent goal drought.

In the 41st minute Real made it 3-0 when Nacho prodded home from close range, after his central defensive partner Raphael Varane knocked down Marco Asensio’s corner from the left.

Real scored again when Benzema doubled his tally following a lightning break in first-half added time, Ronaldo unselfishly finding the Frenchman who passed the ball into an empty net.

Ronaldo finally got on the scoresheet himself, scoring his 112th Champions League goal in the 48th with a simple header off Marcelo’s cross from the left. He then netted again in the 54th minute, firing home after Perez’ clearance struck the onrushing Benzema.

“That Ronaldo and Benzema both scored twice makes us really happy. We’ve come away delighted, we did everything we wanted to do and we need to carry on like this. In the last three games we’ve scored goals and kept clean sheets,” added Zidane.

Last year’s semifinalists Monaco crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages when they were beaten at home 4-1 by Leipzig on Tuesday.

The principality side never recovered from going 3-0 down in the first half an hour following a Fabinho own goal and two goals by Timo Werner.

Radamel Falcao reduced the arrears, only for Naby Keita to put the visitors 4-1 up on the stroke of halftime.

The result left Monaco  at the bottom of Group G on two points from five games, with Leipzig on seven, level with second-placed Porto.

Besiktas top the Group with 11 points after their 1-1 home draw with Porto.

AMMAN — Wihdat took over the Jordan Professional Football League lead on points as Week 9 kicks off on Thursday.

Former champs Wihdat beat Aqaba 2-0 to lead the pack ahead of an expected easy matc

h against Yarmouk. Ramtha dropped to second after they just managed goalless draw with That Ras. They next play Baqa’a who lost to Hussein 5-1 as the latter climbed to 8th. Jazira are third after a 1-0 win over Yarmouk before playing That Ras.

Shabab Urdun are fourth after 1-0 win over Manshieh ahead of their match against newcomers Aqaba. Faisali are 6th after a 1-0 win over Ahli and next play Manshieh, while Ahli play Hussein.

Ramtha have so far upset all former champs beating Faisali, Shabab Urdun and Wihdat to remain second for now. Ahli’s Mahmoud Wadi and Wihat’s Bahaa Faisali lead the top scorers list with 8 goals.

So far this season, reigning League and Jordan Cup champs Faisali beat Jazira to win the 35th Jordan Super Cup. Wihdat beat Jazira to win the Jordan Football Association Shield.

Last year, Faisali won their 33rd league title after a four year break and combined it with the Jordan Cup. Ahli beat reigning league champs Wihdat to win the Super Cup, Shabab Urdun beat Faisali to win their second Shield title after they first won in 2007. Sarih and Sahab were relegated, and replaced by Aqaba and Yarmouk from the First Division.

Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 47 points as the Boston Celtics ran their winning streak to 16 games with a 110-102 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

Irving produced the fourth-highest scoring game of his career, as the Celtics (16-2) rallied from 13 points down in the final 7:47 of regulation. He shot 16-of-22, made five three-pointers and 10 free throws.

Jaylen Brown added 22 for Boston, which tied the fourth-longest win streak in team history. The Celtics can tied for the third longest when they go for 17 in a row Wednesday at Miami.

Cavaliers 116, Pistons 88

Kevin Love collected 19 points and 11 rebounds as Cleveland routed Detroit for its fifth straight win.

LeBron James added 18 points in 27 minutes as Cleveland led by as many as 39 and shot 52.5 per cent. Jae Crowder also scored 18 points for Cleveland.

Stanley Johnson scored 11 points for Detroit, but Andre Drummond finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Drummond failed to get at least 12 rebounds for the first time this season.

Knicks 107, Clippers 85

Kristaps Porzingis led six players in double figures as New York handed Los Angeles their ninth straight loss.

Reserve Doug McDermott added 16 points, Tim Hardaway Jr contributed 13 while Enes Kanter totaled 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Blake Griffin scored 21 points before fouling out as Los Angeles also dropped to 1-11 in their last 12 games.

76ers 107, Jazz 86

Rookie Ben Simmons posted his 11th double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds as Philadelphia beat Utah.

Simmons made 13-of-24 shots as Philadelphia shot 51.8 per cent. JJ Reddick added 20 and Joel Embiid contributed 15 for the 76ers.

Rookie Donvan Mitchell led the Jazz with 17 points.

Pacers 105, Magic 97

Victor Oladipo scored 29 points as Indiana beat Orlando.

Bojan Bogdanovic added 26 points and Thaddeus Young contributed 17 as Indiana won their fourth straight.

Nikola Vucevic totaled 25 points and 13 rebounds as Orlando dropped their fifth straight.

Spurs 96, Hawks 85

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as San Antonio beat Atlanta.

Manu Ginobili added 16 points as San Antonio overcame 18 turnovers. Danny Green added 14 and Kyle Anderson posted a double-double with 13 and 10 rebounds.

Hornets 118, Timberwolves 102

Dwight Howard collected 25 points and 20 rebounds as Charlotte dominated the fourth quarter and beat Minnesota.

Frank Kaminsky added 24 points off the bench as Charlotte outscored Minnesota 34-22 in the fourth quarter. Nicolas Batum added 17 points and Jeremy Lamb contributed 16.

Trail Blazers 100, Grizzlies 92

CJ McCollum scored 24 points as Portland beat Memphis.

McCollum hit a key jumper with 35.3 seconds left and Damian Lillard added 21 as Portland won despite shooting 39.8 per cent.

Pelicans 114, 

Thunder 107

Anthony Davis scored 36 points in 44 and-a-half minutes as New Orleans rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Oklahoma City.

Davis played the entire second half and helped New Orleans withstand the ejection of DeMarcus Cousins. He scored 18 points before getting tossed for elbowing Russell Westbrook in the third quarter.

Paul George led the Thunder with 26 points. Westbrook posted his fifth triple-double with 22 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists.

Wizards 99, Bucks 88

Bradley Beal scored 23 points as Washington beat Milwaukee.

John Wall added 15 points and six assists as Washington shot 52.7 per cent.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 23 points and eight rebounds. Khris Middleton added 15 and Eric Bledsoe finished with 14.

Nuggets 114, Kings 98

Will Barton scored 25 points and made five three-pointers as Denver beat Sacramento.

Gary Harris added 20 points and Nikola Jokic posted a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

LONDON — Grigor Dimitrov claimed the biggest title of his career and sent out a huge statement of intent as the stylish Bulgarian beat David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to win the ATP Finals on Sunday.

The 26-year-old recovered from losing his opening two service games to finally get the better of the willowy Belgian player, but it was fiercely-fought two-and-a-half hour duel with Goffin saving four match points before finally succumbing.

Dimitrov’s unbeaten run this week in London earned him $2.5 million, while the 1,500 ranking points have catapulted him to end an impressive year ranked third in the world — behind only all-time greats Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

More significantly perhaps, landing the unofficial “fifth” Grand Slam appears to be proof that the former junior Wimbledon champion, once dubbed “Baby Federer” because of his easy-on-the-eye style, has finally come of age.

“It’s been an amazing week for me,” Dimitrov said on court after becoming the first player to win the elite eight-man tournament on his first appearance in the event since Spaniard Alex Corretja beat countryman Carlos Moya in 1998.

“It’s such an honour to be here and this week has been one of the best weeks I’ve ever had.”

He was still on court nearly an hour after the match ended, signing autographs for the sizeable Bulgarian contingent who had roared their man to victory.

Yet, it was tough on Goffin who, like Dimitrov, was his country’s first qualifier for the ATP Finals.

His substantial consolation, though, was to end the year at a career-high seventh, having become only the sixth man to beat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the same tournament.

He will need to recover fast from the two hour 30 minute final — the longest since the event adopted a three-set format — as a Davis Cup final looms in France next weekend.

Many of the capacity crowd in the O2 Arena had doubtless booked their tickets in anticipation of watching the top two seeds Federer and Nadal go head-to-head, but the two newcomers provided a fitting end to an extraordinary ATP season.

Goffin managed only two games against Dimitrov when they met on Wednesday in group play but recovered to beat Dominic Thiem to reach the semis where he stunned six-times champion Federer.

For Dimitrov, he was quickly a different proposition in the final, using his pinpoint accuracy to keep his gifted opponent under control and he was way ahead on the winner count as he moved 4-3 ahead.

A double-fault at 30-30 followed by a wayward forehand, though, gifted Dimitrov a break and seemed to energise the Bulgarian.

Dimitrov began to assert himself and piled on the pressure when Goffin served at 5-6. Goffin saved four set points, two with forehand winners, but double-faulted on a game point of his own before Dimitrov forced an error to wrap up the opener.

Goffin needed just one break of serve to take the match into a decider and looked the more likely winner for a while but when Dimitrov survived a 10-minute service game at the start of the third, saving four break points, it proved crucial.

With Goffin beginning to tire, Dimitrov moved 5-2 ahead with a break and then went 0-40 ahead on Goffin’s serve.

Somehow Goffin survived to extend the contest to another game and saved another match point on the Bulgarian’s serve.

He looked poised to save another one as he stretched Dimitrov all over the court, but with the court at his mercy he put an attempted drop-volley into the net.

AMMAN — Jordan’s Amro Al Wir has clinched gold in the 200m breaststroke at the Arab Swimming Age Group Championships taking place in Cairo, Egypt, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The youngster finished first in the 16-18 years category in a time of 2:19.61 minutes, a new Arab record, to complete a successful event for Team Jordan.

The Kingdom’s overall medal tally reached 10 when the relay team of Wasef Hattab, Zeiad Sal’ous, Aliya Shamyah and Amro Ammari won bronze in the 4x100 medley. Jordan’s haul included one gold, four silver and five bronze medals.

MANCHESTER — Jose Mourinho admitted he felt emotional to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic return from his career-threatening knee ligament operation in Manchester United’s impressive 4-1 victory on Saturday over Newcastle United.

Paul Pogba, coming back from a 12-match lay-off of his own with a hamstring problem, started the game and played a pivotal role, laying on an equaliser for Anthony Martial and scoring United’s third.

But Ibrahimovic, who tore knee ligaments against Anderlecht in April and underwent career-saving surgery, drew the biggest cheer of the day when he appeared as a 77th-minute substitute.

“The second half was ours,” said Mourinho. “We had control, goals, beautiful actions and still time for a very emotional scene for all of us, who stayed close to such a professional with one of the biggest injuries in football.

“And so him coming back was a joy for everyone but for us close to him it was more than that, it was a big emotion to see the big guy back.”

Pogba was sorely missed during his two-month absence, not least by striker Romelu Lukaku who ended a run of seven games without a goal by adding the fourth for United against Newcastle.

And although he would not talk about Pogba during his injury, Mourinho was forthright about the French international’s value to United, although he now has to make a decision whether or not to select him for Wednesday’s Champions League group game with Basel.

“He was top,” said the United manager. “It looked like he was not out, he came back with a great performance, really great performance, he had great influence in the game.

“I agreed with him he had to make the decision of coming out at the first sign of fatigue because we don’t want to go over the limit so he played a little bit more than an hour.

“He affects our football. When he was injured I decided to close my mouth, we cannot be crying, we have to find solutions that we have but we all know — myself, and the fellow players — that some players influence the level of the team.

“So with him we had much more creation, we have a second way out from the first phase and I’m so happy. Let’s see the best decision for Wednesday.”

Lukaku ends drought

Pogba celebrated wildly, on his way down the tunnel, when Lukaku scored the fourth goal after 70 minutes and Mourinho was equally pleased to see the Belgian return to goalscoring ways.

“Strikers like to score goals,” he said. “It’s not a problem for me if he works like he always does and doesn’t score, but for their self esteem and self confidence they want to score goals.

“And he wasn’t doing that for a few matches and I know that can affect striker’s confidence, so I was really happy that he scored that goal.”

After the teams had traded goals, Chris Smalling headed United into a 2-1 lead in first-half injury-time, although Newcastle were close to snatching an equaliser before the break when an Isaac Hayden shot was well saved, and Matt Ritchie’s follow-up shot was almost deflected in by Dwight Gayle, who had scored the opener.

“I’m really pleased and proud of my players for that opening 30 minutes,” Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez said. “But when you pay big money for players, they can make the difference.

“If we had scored a second it might have been different but, even if we had scored a second, you can’t think a game with Man United is finished with the level of their players. You know it is going to be 90 minutes of suffering but it’s a pity because we had chances.”