Soccer: Celtic's stunning win over Juventus all in vain

Glasgow Celtic beat mighty Juventus 4-3 in a thriller yesterday, but it was not enough to claim the final berth in the second group stage of the European Champions League because Porto also won on the night.

Porto had a dozen good scoring chances but qualification was in doubt until the final whistle as they clung to a 1-0 lead - a 37th-minute Pena header - over Rosenborg.

Celtic's victory came courtesy of Chris Sutton's double in the 45th and 64th minutes, Hendrik Larsson's penalty after Sutton was felled in the 57th, and Joos Valgaeren in the 24th.

Alessandro del Piero (19th) and David Trezeguet (51st and 77th) were on target for Juventus, who had already qualified and finished top of group E with 11 points.

Porto had 10, Celtic nine and Rosenborg four.

The 16 teams for the second group stage besides Porto and Juventus are Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester United, Deportivo la Coruna, titleholders Bayern Munich, Sparta Prague, Real Madrid, Roma, Liverpool, Boavista Porto, Panatinaikos, Arsenal, Nantes and Galatasaray.

Celtic and the following third-placed teams continue in the Uefa Cup: Lokomotive Moscow, Borussia Dortmund, Mallorca, PSV Eindhoven, Olympique Lyon, Lille and Feyenoord.

Eliminated are RSC Anderlecht, Dynamo Kiev, Schalke, Lazio, Rosenborg, Fenerbahce, Spartak Moscow and Olympiakos.

Group E was the only one with a second-stage berth still up for grabs. Celtic gave it a try, but only managed to avenge a last-gasp 3-2 defeat in Turin earlier in the campaign.

It was a great victory for the Scottish side, but Porto's win saw the Portuguese club champs stay alive in the showpiece event.

Elsewhere, Munich rested several stars but won the group H top-of-table clash against Sparta Prague 1-0 in Prague.

In group F, Barcelona beat Fenerbahce - the only team to lose all six games - 1-0 thanks to a Rivaldo injury-time freekick, and as group winners are seeded in tomorrow's draw along with the other group winners.

In group H, 1999 champions Manchester United also did not field all their aces in a 1-1 draw at French side Lille. In-form Ole Gunnar scored early for United and Bruno Cheyron levelled in the 65th minute.

* Iran qualified for a two-leg playoff with Ireland for a place in next year's World Cup finals when they beat the United Arab Emirates 3-0 in Abu Dhabi yesterday for a 4-0 aggregate success.

- AGENCIES