St. Pölten earns 1-1 draw at Juventus but exits Champions League

Austrian club SKN St. Pölten missed advancing to the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage but earned a 1-1 draw against Juventus Turin on Wednesday. The result was not enough to overturn their 3-0 first-leg deficit, eliminating them from the competition. Juventus took the lead through Tatiana Pinto in the 40th minute, but Alma Aagaard equalized for St. Pölten in the 56th minute. The Austrian vice-champions improved significantly after halftime, with Diana Lemesova also hitting the post, ending their streak of four consecutive Champions League group-stage appearances. St. Pölten will now enter the second qualifying round of the secondary European competition, with the draw scheduled for Friday. Coach Laurent Fassotte praised his team's "fantastic performance," while noting that simple errors in the first leg had cost them qualification.