Uninspired Juve clinch top spot with draw

A lacklustre Juventus were held 0-0 at home by Belrussian minnows BATE Borisov in the Champions League on Wednesday but did just enough to finish top of Group H.

The Italians knew before kick-off they needed only a point to finish top of their pool regardless of Real Madrid's result at home to Zenit St Petersburg — the Spaniards won 3-0 — but their efforts to make life more comfortable floundered on a low-key evening.

Coach Claudio Ranieri left out several first team regulars such as Momo Sissoko and Giorgio Chiellini but still picked a side more than capable of beating Borisov.

But they simply couldn't get out of first gear although that will be of little concern to Ranieri in the second round, when his team can look forward to playing the second leg at home against a second place finisher.

Unsuprisingly for a match with almost nothing riding on it, the first 45 minutes, in front of a spartan crowd, were tepid.

Neither side risked much and only Sebastian Giovinco came close to scoring from a free-kick midway through the period that he sent just wide of the upright.

He had another chance from a dead ball after the half hour mark but this one he sent well over the bar.

There was a marked improvement after the break and Brazilian forward Amauri sent over a cross on 51 minutes that Marco Marchionni met 10 yards out but his header hit the post and plopped back into the arms of relieved goalkeeper Sergei Veremko.

Moments later, Borisov's Mikhail Sivakov inexplicably handled the ball in the area only for Giovinco to send his 53rd-minute spot-kick high over the bar.

Juve were at least starting to pile on the pressure and Giovinco set up Czech veteran Pavel Nedved but his side-foot finish was too weak to beat Veremko.

Ranieri showed his intentions when he brought on Alessandro Del Piero to try to find a winner and in the last 10 minutes the evergreen forward came close with a diving header that required a one-handed save from Veremko.

But that was as exciting as this match got.

Borisov finished bottom of the group but at least remained unbeaten against Juventus.