Manchester City qualified from Group A in first place after Jo scored a 77th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Juventus yesterday.

Niccolo Giannetti’s goal just before halftime had given Juventus the lead.

Manchester City and Lech Poznan both finished with 11 points, but City took top spot on goal difference. Juventus was already out of contention and drew all its games to finish third with six points. FC Salzburg finished fourth with two points.

“I am very happy because we wanted this and it was very important to finish top of the group,” Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini said.

“We have a chance to go all the way, but it is important to have a good draw for the next round and after that we will see.”

Alessandro Del Piero set up Giannetti for the opener with a low cross that the young striker clipped past Shay Given in the City goal.

“It was strange to concede the goal, but we played well, and for me this is important,” Mancini said. “I did not expect to play against such a strong Juventus team. But in the end I think we deserved a draw.”

Juventus fans have repeated their abusive chants toward Mario Balotelli even though the striker was not in Manchester City’s squad for yesterday’s match.

Supporters in the Olympic Stadium’s southern end chanted discriminatory slogans about the player, ANSA news agency reports.

Juventus fans regularly used to target Balotelli, an Italian international of Ghanaian descent, when he played for Inter.

Last season Juventus was fined €20,000 and the authorities twice banned supporters from home matches after Balotelli was targeted.

Meanwhile holders Atletico Madrid crashed out of the competition after a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen.

Substitute Fran Merida scored with his first touch of the ball in the 72nd to level the score but the draw was not enough for Atletico to move past Aris in Group B. Aris won 2-0 at home over Rosenborg and advanced to the last 32.

Patrick Helmes had given Leverkusen the lead after 69 minutes. Leverkusen was already assured of winning the group and advancing ahead of Aris.

Heavy snowfall made the conditions difficult throughout the match.

Diego Forlan, whose two goals gave Atletico the title in the final in May in a 2-1 win over Fulham, wasted the first big opportunity of the match in the 32nd, with backup goalkeeper Fabian Giefer making a smart save with his legs. Giefer was playing instead of the injured Rene Adler.

Leverkusen opened the scoring with the simplest of moves. Stefan Kiessling rose to meet a long free kick and headed on to Helmes, who broke through between two defenders and scored.

The lead lasted three minutes. Danny da Costa tried to knock the ball away from Sergio Aguero but put it right in front of substitute Fran Merida, who scored with his first touch of the ball less than a minute after coming on.

Lille of France qualified from Group C after their 3-0 win over Ghent. Lille finished on eight points, one ahead of Ghent and Levski Sofia who defeated Sporting 1-0.

The other team to qualify was Anderlechtfrom Group G. They finished on seven points, the same as AEK Athens, but went through on the results of the direct clashes.