Juventus ended a run of four games without a win with a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium.
The Old Lady had three disallowed goals in the first half, which were all ruled out for offside, but they did have one which counted when Federico Gatti reacted quickest to knock in the rebound.
Fiorentina tried hard to get on level terms in the second period as Nicolas Gonzalez hit the crossbar, alongside efforts from Lucas Beltran and Antonin Barak, but Juventus held strong to further strengthen their chances of returning to the Champions League.
Juventus thought they had taken the lead in the seventh minute when Gatti’s header found Weston McKennie inside the box before he neatly finished into the net, only for the linesman’s flag to cut celebrations short.
The hosts had another goal disallowed in the 12th minute as Filip Kostic’s cross caused problems in the Fiorentina box, Gatti smashed off the bar before Dusan Vlahovic poked home, but the goal was ruled out this time after a VAR review.
The home side had the ball in the net for a third time when Gleison Bremer headed a cross onto the post, with Gatti on hand to slot home from inside the six-yard box to finally take the lead.
Juventus had yet another goal disallowed on the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa’s cross was nodded down by McKennie into the path of Vlahovic, who thought he scored against his old side only for VAR to rule that his team-mate was offside in the build-up.
It took 58 minutes for Fiorentina to hit their first effort on target when Barak decided to let rip from 25 yards, but Wojciech Szczesny was stood in the centre of the goal to snuff out the opportunity.
Back came Juventus in search for a second and Kostic delivered another dangerous cross into the Fiorentina six-yard box and Nikola Milenkovic’s touch took it past the woodwork.
Juventus had a chance to double their lead as Vlahovic twisted and turned to try shake off the defence, but Fiorentina got enough bodies back to safely clear.
Fiorentina started to look more dangerous and came within inches of an equaliser as Gonzalez cut inside and curled an audacious effort into the top corner only for Szczesny to tip on to the crossbar.
The away side made most of the running in the second period and came close to a leveller yet again when Maxime Lopez’s low cross into the box found Beltran.
His goalbound effort seemed to be going in, but team-mate M’Bala Nzola could not get out of the way as Fiorentina went three games without victory.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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