Having been outplayed for 80 minutes by a speedier and slicker Barcelona side Wednesday night at Luzhniki's Big Arena, the Moscow-based team was on course for early elimination in the Champions League, the round-robin quarterfinal round of the Champions Cup. But Karpin's last minute equalizer leveled the score at two and enabled the Russian champion to cling to the slim hope of advancement from Group A in the Champions League. Monaco took over the top spot in the group on goal difference by thrashing Turkish champion Galatasaray 3-0. Barcelona also has three points and Spartak and Galatasaray have two points apiece.


For Spartak to advance, it will have to win at least two of its remaining three games and do no worse than a draw in the other game. The Russian champion has one more home game in the Champions League, against Monaco on March 30 at Luzhniki.


AC Milan moved two points clear at the top of Group B with a 2-1 victory over German champion Werder Bremen.


Belgian international Luc Nilis scored his seventh goal in the competition two minutes from time to give Anderlecht a 1-0 home victory over Porto in Group B and move them to second


Barcelona's dropped point could prove costly when the semifinal pairings are decided, with the runners-up in Group A likely to face AC Milan.


The Spanish champion looked to have won the game after Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoichkov and Brazil's Romario scored in the 10th and 66th minutes against a Spartak side short of match practice in their off-season.


But the Russians hit back in the 77th minute when Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta fumbled a cross and Sergei Rodionov scored from eight meters, to set up Karpin's equalizer .


The Russians missed several opportunites to get on the board when striker Vladimir Beschatnykh failed to convert crosses into the goals. The match was played in subfreezing temperatures with about 45,000 in attendance, including ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.


A rampant Monaco, competing in place of Marseille, took advantage of the slip as they demolished Turkish side Galatasaray, whose two previous Champions' League games ended in 0-0 draws.


First-half goals from Enzo Scifo and Youri Djorkaeff and a third from German Juergen Klinsmann shortly after the restart carried Monaco to victory.


Milan, bidding to reach the European Cup final for the fourth time in six years, secured both points against Bremen when Dejan Savicevic took advantage of a dreadful blunder in the German defense. The Montenegrin raced clear in the 68th minute after Werder defender Frank Neubarth missed an innocuous long clearance.


Defender Paolo Maldini had headed Milan into a 48th-minute lead. But an error by Milan goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi put Werder level six minutes later.


Bremen came close to a second equalizer when defender Dietmar Beiersdorfer headed narrowly over the bar two minutes from time.


The Anderlecht-Porto match was heading for a goalless stalemate which accurately reflected the run of play when Nilis finally beat goalkeeper Vitor Baia and left the Portuguese club with too little time to react.Arsenal held Torino to a 0-0 draw in Italy to give them the edge in their Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinal.


Arsenal manager George Graham clearly won the tactical battle -- but his side must have been frustrated in the end not to have created a healthy lead for the Highbury return in two weeks' time.


Torino, far from presenting the flair and ingenuity of the Italian league at its best, looked sluggish and short of ideas, forcing only one real clear-cut opportunity to break the deadlock.


And in the only UEFA Cup tie, another late equalizer from midfielder Michael Wittwer earned Germany's Carlsruhe a 1-1 draw in the opening leg of their quarter-final away to Boavista in Oporto.


Wittwer equalized in the 78th minute after Boavista, in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup for the first time, opened the scoring in the 38th minute through Nigerian striker Ricky Owubokiri.


(MT, Reuters, UPI)


World Cup Tickets Yet


n NEW YORK (Reuters) -- World Cup organizers are giving soccer fans another chance to buy tickets for sold-out matches through a limited offer this spring.


Senior press officer John Griffin said Wednesday some World Cup sponsors had returned tickets and several national associations were also expected to do so.


"We feel confident there will be enough returns from national associations to go ahead and put the sale on," he said. The tickets will be sold on a one-match basis.