Schalke 04 have reached the last 16 of the Champions League after a hard-fought victory over Slovenian side Maribor.

Max Meyer proved to be the hero as he came off the bench to give the Royal Blues the lead on 62 minutes and the Bundesliga side held on to qualify.

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Schalke could have led inside the opening minutes when Tranquillo Barnetta's shot from outside the area drifted narrowly wide of Jasmin Handanovic's goal.

However, they nearly trailed early in the first half after Peter Stojanovic's cross found Marcos Tavares, but the Brazilian striker was kept out by Ralf Fahrmann.

Schalke then squandered another opportunity minutes later as Marco Hoger's pinpoint ball found Barnetta, and his header was only inches away from hitting the back on the net.

Maribor continued to threaten in attack knowing that a win would secure a Europa League place, and Sintayehu Sallalich was denied by another low save from Fahrmann.

Roberto Di Matteo's men continued to look for a goal before half time and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was denied twice in the space of a minute by Handanovic as the Blues came closer to a breakthrough.

Early in the second half, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar then thought he had given Schalke the lead when his strike rolled across the goal line after hitting the post, but Maribor were able to clear from danger.

However, the Slovenian side fell behind soon after when Meyer came off the bench and was first to react to loose handling from Handanovic to give the Bundesliga outfit a priceless victory.