Juventus eliminate Monchengladbach from UEFA Champions League

Ten-men Juventus held Monchengladbach to a 1-1 draw to eliminate the "Foals" from the group stage, following the fourth round of UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

Group D front-runners Juventus ended Monchengladbach's hope to progress into the last 16 after a 1-1 draw on the road. The hosts grabbed the lead through Fabian Johnson before Stephan Lichtensteiner's equalizer for Juventus silenced the Borussia-Park. "Juve" played the last 37 minutes with ten-men but Monchengladbach failed to take advantage.

The last placed "Foals" needed a win to stay in the competition and they thus grabbed the reins against surprisingly offensively minded visitors from Italy. Monchengladbach came close to break the deadlock with just 13 minutes into the game but Mahmoud Dahoud's long-range effort rattled only the woodwork.

Dahou's chance was a wakening call for the hosts, who opened the scoring five minutes later. Raffael capitalized on a loose ball inside the box to assist Fabian Johnson, whose shot from the inside right beat Ginaluigi Buffon into the far post corner.

The "Foals" continued to threat Juventus' defence, as Buffon had to deny Ibrahima Traore's header with a tip over the bar. The Italian veteran custodian was again in the thick of things moments later after defusing Havard Nordtveit's powerful low shot.

Slowly but surely Juventus gained a foothold into the game to shock the hosts with the equalizer just before the break. Paul Pogba assisted with a pinpoint lob into the path of unmarked Stephan Lichtensteiner, who hammered the volley past Monchengladbach's goalkeeper Yann Sommer with one minute remaining in the first half.

After the restart Juventus nearly turned the tides but neither Leonardo Bonucci nor Alvaro Morata were able to beat Sommer with their headers on target. The visitors suffered a setback with 53 minutes into the game as Hernanes saw a straight red card for a foul play to Alvaro Dominguez.

However, despite having superior number on the pitch the "Foals" failed to overcome Buffon for the second time. The Juventus goalkeeper was on guard to defuse Lars Stindl's and Thorgan Hazard's efforts, securing his side one point on the road.

With the result, Monchengladbach crashed out of the group stage with two points from four games meanwhile Juventus slipped to the second place in the table of Group D. The "Foals" have now one eye on the UEFA Europa League. Endi