Zenit St Petersburg 0 Juventus 0:Zenit St Petersburg's hopes of making the knockout stages of the Champions League were dealt a sever blow this evening when they were held scoreless at home by Juventus.

The Italians, who had already qualified for the last 16, dominated in the first half and hit the post twice as the temperatures dipped below zero in Russia's second city.

The home side, who had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half, increased the pressure after the interval but wasted a number of chances.

The draw left third-placed Zenit on five points from five matches in Group H. A win for Real Madrid over competition debutants BATE Borisov this evening, will see the Spanish champions join Juve in the last 16.

Juve, who were missing seven key players through injury including goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, midfielder Cristiano Zanetti and striker David Trezeguet, hit the post twice in the first 22 minutes.

Defender Olof Mellberg struck the woodwork with a header from close range following a Mauro Camoranesi free kick. Then, Vincenzo Iaquinta was denied after a neat exchange between Pavel Nedved and Zdenek Grygera on the left.

Alessandro Del Piero, who gave Juve a 1-0 win over Zenit in their first match in Turin in September, tested goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev with a powerful drive from the edge of the box right after the interval.

The Juve captain also wasted an excellent chance 10 minutes later after being left unmarked with the goal at his mercy.

Uefa Cup winners Zenit, who had trouble penetrating a tight Juventus defence in the first half, went close to breaking the deadlock twice in less than two minutes after the break.

First, Portugal international Danny wasted a golden chance in the 66th minute before Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak hit the post with a low drive a minute later.

Danny, Zenit's record €30million signing from Dynamo Moscow this summer, missed the last scoring opportunity late in the match when his low shot just went wide off the far post.