Dortmund draw 1-1 against Lazio without Haaland to reach last 16

Borussia Dortmund overcame the absence of injured top scorer Erling Haaland to draw 1-1 with Lazio in Champions League Group F on Wednesday and advance to the knockout stages with a game to spare.

The 20-year-old Haaland, who has scored 16 goals in 12 Champions League appearances, was surprisingly not in Dortmund's starting lineup and his coach Lucien Favre said a muscle injury would sideline the Norwegian until January.

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The Germans scored in the 44th minute with their first big chance, Raphael Guerreiro prodding in after a quick passing move split open the Italian defence. Lazio's Ciro Immobile levelled with a 67th-minute penalty.

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"We lost 3-1 in Rome, we improved tonight and could have won it with our chances," Favre said. "In the end it was not our best performance, but we have qualified. That is what was important tonight. Nothing else matters."

Roman Burki palmed Immobile's powerful low drive wide in the 87th and he pushed Andreas Pereira's free kick deep in stoppage time over the bar.

"We did well to react, did well to not lose and we had a great final 20 minutes in which we did all we could do win it and get the three points," Immobile said.

"We wouldn't have deserved to lose, for what we showed in the second half. We showed great character and winning mentality."

There was more bad news on the injury front for Dortmund, already missing injured Emre Can and Thomas Meunier, with centre back Mats Hummels helped off the pitch late in the game due to an ankle injury.

Dortmund are on 10 points with second-placed Lazio on nine and needing at least a point in their final game against Club Brugge, who have seven after beating last-placed Zenit St Petersburg.