RAMAT GAN (Israel) - JUVENTUS took a significant step towards the Champions League knockout phase by beating Maccabi Haifa 1-0 in their group stage game at the Ramat Gan Stadium here on Tuesday.

The Italian giants, who fell to their first home league defeat in nine months against Napoli on Saturday, opened the scoring through Mauro Camoranesi on the stroke of half-time and were rarely troubled in a turgid second half.

Group A leaders Bordeaux's victory at Bayern Munich on Tuesday means that Juventus are now four points above the Germans in second place and require three points from their last two matches to progress.

Juve narrowly edged Haifa by the same scoreline when they met in Turin and Ciro Ferrara's side once again succeeded in keeping the Israelis at arm's length in the second period, although Shlomi Arbeitman gave them a couple of scares with two headers that were narrowly off-target.

A fourth consecutive group stage defeat means Haifa can no longer qualify for the next round and they must win their remaining two matches to stand any chance of overhauling Bayern to qualify for the Europa League. -- AFP