Wesley Sneijder (left) celebrates with Didier Drogba.

Galatasaray’s Wesley Sneijder struck late to clinch a 1-0 win over Juventus and a Champions League last 16 spot at the expense of the Italians yesterday as they completed a match abandoned due to snow a day earlier.

Sneijder broke the deadlock in the 85th minute after being set up by a headed knock down from striker Didier Drogba, firing a low shot past Gianluigi Buffon in the Group B match which was again beset by snowy conditions that made the pitch slippery.

Galatasaray’s win lifted them above the Serie A champions into second with seven points compared to six for Juve, who drop into the Europa League.

Real Madrid won the group with 16 points having beaten bottom side FC Copenhagen 2-0 away on Tuesday.

The re-arranged game in Istanbul restarted in the 32nd minute yesterday afternoon after being abandoned due to heavy snowfall on Tuesday. Both teams struggled on a muddy pitch which made passing a major challenge, forcing them to hit long balls.

“I think we got a well-deserved win over Juve,” Galatasaray manager Roberto Mancini said.

“Restarting the game after a rescheduling made concentrating a challenge, but our fans showed up in snowfall and helped us through. We are grateful.”

Juventus created few chances, mostly through the work rate of their Argentina striker Carlos Tevez whose cheeky backheel in a fine move after 79 minutes was wasted by Claudio Marchisio. His tame effort was easily saved by Fernando Muslera.

Juventus coach Antonio Conte told reporters: “I praised the players because they gave everything on a pitch where you couldn’t play football and that penalised us.

“The regret is that we left it all up to the last game in the group.

“Now let’s think about the domestic champion-ship,” he added with Juve top of Serie A by three points after 15 matches.

The only consolation for Juve is that they have a chance to play in the Europa League final at their home stadium on May 14.