SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (AP) — Real Sociedad drew 0-0 at home to Salzburg in the Champions League on Wednesday but remained top of Group D, while Inter Milan also failed to win.
Salzburg goalkeeper Alexander Schlager’s saves prevented Sociedad from winning in a game in hand than Inter’s three-goal comeback in the second half to draw 3-3 at bottom-of-the-table Benfica.
Sociedad and Inter qualified for the round of 16 3 weeks ago and will face each other at San Siro on December 12 in a duel that will determine the winner of the organization. Sociedad only want a draw as they have the tiebreaker against Inter on overall goal difference in the tie. organization.
The top-ranked organizations in their table will be seeded in the round of 16 draw on Dec. 18, as will other winning organizations such as Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Coach Imanol Alguacil was able to rest Spain internationals Robin Le Normand and Mikel Merino to face Salzburg which his team beat 2-0 in Austria last month.
Austria’s Schlager held up well in the second half to keep out Sociedad’s Brais Mendez, Russian midfielder Arsen Zakharyan and Umar Sadiq.
In added time, Schlager made a jump save from a free kick by Japanese foreigner Take Kubo.
Salzburg will host Benfica in two weeks and will be looking for a draw to secure third place and qualify for the Europa League round on February 16. These playoffs will also take place on December 18.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer