Barça and Arsenal move closer to Champions League round of 16, while Manchester City falls again

Barcelona and Arsenal, with wins over top-half opponents, took a major step toward the final 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday in a sixth matchday that turned into a nightmare for Manchester City, beaten 2-0 by Juventus.

The trip to Italy, on a freezing night in Turin, froze a City squad that has been adrift for a month and a half, with only one win in its last 10 games.

In the Champions League, only their good start to the season has saved them for now, as in the last three games they have only taken one point and that has dropped them to 22nd place, still in the playoff places to qualify for the round of 16, but only one point above the first team in the virtual elimination zone, Paris Saint-Germain (25th), who will be their next Champions League opponent on Jan. 22 on matchday seven.

A goal by Serbian Dusan Vlahovic at the start of the second half (54th minute) opened the way for the Turin side, who sealed the deal with a beautiful volley goal by American Weston McKennie (75th).

Erling Haaland had missed a one-on-one against Michele Di Gregorio in the first half, in a play that could have changed the course of the match.

"We played a good game, but we lacked little things to get a good result. But we have to continue playing like this, to get out of this situation," Guardiola reckoned.

Juventus, singled out for their addiction to draws, were able to rediscover a win that was crucial, after three Champions matches without a win. With 11 points, the "Vecchia Signora" move up to 14th place.

Decisive Ferran Torres

At the emblematic Signal Iduna Park, in a duel between two of the most in-form teams in this Champions League, Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 as visitors.

With 15 points, Barça is second only to leaders Liverpool, the only team with six wins (18 points).

The Catalan team came into the match level on points with Borussia Dortmund, the reigning European runners-up, who now drop to ninth place (12 points).

Ferran Torres was the star of the night, with a brace (minutes 75, 85). Brazilian Raphinha (53rd) had earlier opened the scoring for Barça, while for Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy (60th penalty, 78th) provisionally equalized twice.

"Dortmund is a team that pushes you to the limit. I think we played a great game and we have to leave satisfied," Barcelona's Dani Olmo told DAZN.

The other Spanish team in contention on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid (11th, 12 points) strung together a third straight win in this Champions League, this time 3-1 at home to Slovan Bratislava, who are still on zero points.

Argentine Julián Álvarez and Frenchman Antoine Griezmann, the latter with a brace, brought three points to the Metropolitano.

Suffering at the San Siro

In London, Monaco, one of the teams that surprised at the start of the tournament, continued to deflate and dropped to 16th place by losing 3-0 away to Arsenal, who moved up to third with 13 points, the same as five other teams.

Bukayo Saka (34th, 78th minutes) signed a brace to lead the "Gunners" to victory, before Germany's Kai Havertz sealed the final 3-0 in the 88th minute.

"In the Champions League it's never easy and we had a tough time, but scoring the second goal was what gave us peace of mind," said Arsenal's Spanish coach Mikel Arteta.

In the other matches, the AC Milan eked out a win at the San Siro against Red Star (2-1), achieved with a late goal by Englishman Tammy Abraham (87th minute). The "Rossoneri," with 12 points, are 12th in the table.

The night's top scorer was Stuttgart (26th, 7 points), with a 5-1 win over bottom-placed Young Boys Switzerland (0 points). The German team is still out of the playoff at the moment, but staved off mathematical elimination.