GENEVA: Manchester City and Chelsea are both sure of their places in next year’s knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League but Celtic will be missing.
City drew 0-0 with Borussia Dortmund who also progressed.
City went closest to breaking the deadlock when Riyad Mahrez’s second-half penalty was saved and they remain unbeaten and are assured of top spot in Group E with one game to play.
The point was also enough for Dortmund, who were intent on keeping a clean sheet after having the better of the first half, and they too are guaranteed a place in the last 16.
Guardiola handed goalkeeper Stefan Ortega his club debut and England defender John Stones returned to action for the first time in seven matches after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gundogan, Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden also returned to the starting line-up, while Ederson, Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Manuel Akanji and Aymeric Laporte were all rested.
With City already assured of their place in the knockout phase and a point good enough to see Dortmund through, the opening exchanges lacked any real tempo.
City goalkeeper Ortega made his first save with his legs in the 16th minute when Karim Adeyemi stayed on side to run through on goal.
Adeyemi was instrumental again as Dortmund began to stretch City’s back four, first picking out Giovanni Reyna on the left edge of the area after a flowing move, but the latter’s curling effort was well held by Ortega.
Germany forward Adeyemi then produced an excellent low cross into the path of Youssoufa Moukoko, who let the ball run across him before side-footing wide.
Teenage striker Moukoko combined with Adeyemi again and forced Ortega into another save.
Erling Haaland had scant chance to make an impact against his former club and was replaced at the interval by Bernardo Silva, with Manuel Akanji on for Joao Cancelo.
Dortmund were first to threaten after the restart when Jude Bellingham failed to connect properly with his shot inside the area before City spurned the chance to take the lead after being gifted a 57th-minute penalty.
Mahrez went down under Emre Can’s reckless challenge, but the City winger’s subsequent spot kick was comfortably saved by Kobel.
Kai Havertz’s brilliant second-half goal earned Chelsea a 2-1 win at RB Salzburg which booked their place in the Champions League knockout stages.
The Germany international curled in a stunning effort midway through the second half to decide a testing evening in Austria and extend Graham Potter’s unbeaten start to his Blues reign to nine games.
The Premier League side had gone ahead through a fine strike by Mateo Kovacic and only a string of saves by impressive home goalkeeper Philipp Kohn stopped it being a rout at half-time.
The Austrian side levelled early in the second half through Junior Adamu’s superb breakaway effort as Chelsea looked in peril.
Havertz had the final say, though, winning the match in style and sending his side through with his 20-yard effort that found the top corner.
Chelsea will top Group E if Dinamo Zagreb fail to beat AC Milan in the late kick-off.
After an even start Chelsea took the lead midway through the first half with a goal out of nothing by Kovacic.
A loose ball fell to the midfielder on the edge of the area and he sent a first-time effort into the top corner.
It was almost two four minutes later but Kohn produced a brilliant save to get down low and keep out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s deflected header from a corner.
Potter’s men found their attacking groove and it should have been 2-0 in the 32nd minute but Kohn delivered again. Havertz broke clear down the left and squared for Aubameyang, who had all the time in the world but shot straight at the goalkeeper’s legs.
Kohn was forced into another save 10 minutes before half-time but this was more about a poor miss by Havertz as the German put a header straight at the goalkeeper from six yards out after Gallagher’s cross laid it on a plate.
Kohn saved his best stop for first-half injury time as he produced a brilliant save from Aubameyang’s effort after some incisive play by Chelsea sliced their opponents open, getting down low to his left and keeping the ball out with a strong left hand.
Chelsea were punished for those missed chances early in the second half as Salzburg levelled with a brilliant breakaway goal.
Moments after the hosts were denied a penalty after VAR ruled Kovacic did not handle the ball, they got from back to front at lightning speed, with Adamu converting Maximilian Wober’s fine cross.
Some brilliant work from Adamu at the other end denied Chelsea an instant response as the striker lunged to clear Jorginho’s header off the line.
There was nothing anyone could do to keep out Havertz’ superb 64th-minute strike, which ended up being the winner.
Christian Pulisic laid the ball back and he curled a pinpoint effort into the top corner.
Chelsea needed Kepa Arrizabalaga to produce a fine stop to keep out Benjamin Sesko’s effort while Thiago Silva also cleared off the line from Strahinja Pavlovic’s header.
In the end, they saw it out comfortably to ensure they became the first away side to win at Salzburg in 41 attempts.
Celtic will not play in European football beyond the World Cup break after being held to a 1-1 home draw by Shakhtar Donetsk.
Giorgos Giakoumakis gave the hosts the lead at half-time but a brilliant finish from exciting young talent Mykhailo Mudryk earned the visitors a point and made it 10 Champions League home games without a win for Celtic, a run which stretches back nine years.
The result consigned Celtic to a bottom-placed finish in Group F ahead of their final game against holders Real Madrid in Spain next week and blocked their escape route to the Europa League.
The Scottish champions did not quite create the quality of chances they had in earlier group games but Kyogo Furuhashi missed an excellent opportunity to put them back in front. However, the visitors subsequently produced a strong contender for miss of the season.
Celtic’s tally of one point and two goals from their opening four matches was scant reward for their attacking ambition and Ange Postecoglou was even bolder in his approach for their final home match in this season’s competition.
The Celtic manager employed a 4-2-4 formation with Giakoumakis and Furuhashi starting together for only the second time, and the first since a 2-0 win over St Johnstone 12 months ago. Sead Haksabanovic and Liel Abada were out wide with creative midfielders Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley behind them.
Furuhashi dropped deep to engineer Celtic’s first shooting chance, which led to Giakoumakis hitting a first-time effort over from 25 yards.
Shakhtar took the sting out of the game early on and Celtic needed some good covering from Greg Taylor to stop the visitors’ main threat, Mudryk, dribbling through on Joe Hart.
Giakoumakis headed off target and O’Riley curled not far wide from 20 yards but Celtic took the lead in the 34th minute through their first real opportunity.
Haksabanovic struggled to make set-pieces count in the first half but he made the difference by getting to the byline and driving in a low cross. Abada’s effort was blocked and Giakoumakis turned the ball home from seven yards.
Celtic kept the pressure on and both O’Riley and Giakoumakis forced saves from long range.
But the hosts had Hart to thank for going in ahead at half-time. Mudryk was played through by Lassina Traore and the goalkeeper did well to narrow the angle and block the Ukraine international’s shot with his chest.
Mudryk was at the heart of another chance for the visitors which ended with Oleksandr Zubkov sliding in to hit the side netting, and the 21-year-old soon did it all himself in the 58th minute.
Celtic lost the ball just inside the Shakhtar half and Mudryk was soon sprinting towards the home box. The wide player cut inside and made space for himself to fire into the roof of the net from 20 yards.
Celtic had an excellent chance to swiftly regain the lead when Giakoumakis played in Furuhashi but the Japan forward scuffed a weak effort straight at the goalkeeper.
The home side had a huge let-off following another blistering break from Mudryk, who squared for what looked like a certain goal for Danylo Sikan. But the substitute casually side-footed wide of an open goal from six yards.
O’Riley forced a decent stop from long range and stroked a first-time effort wide from 15 yards but Celtic were generally lacking in conviction in their passing around the Shakhtar box, despite some decent crosses from substitute James Forrest.
The visitors knew a point would be enough to give them the chance of a second-placed finish despite RB Leipzig’s win over Real Madrid and they soaked up some late pressure.
###