Juventus hosted Celtic at the Juventus Stadium in Turin last night in the return leg of the Champions League Round of Sixteen, already comfortably leading 3-0 on aggregate.
Celtic faced a massive task after conceding three away goals at Celtic Park in the first leg, courtesy of goals from Alessandro Matri, Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic, leaving the Bhoys needing four goals in order to qualify for the quarter-finals. It did not start well for Celtic, however, when Juventus took the lead through Matri after Fraser Forster parried a shot from the left to the Italian’s feet for an easy tap-in, taking Juventus’ lead to 4-0 on aggregate. Juventus continued to press until the second half, scuppering several chances and Celtic also failed to capitalise on a couple of opportunities themselves.
The start of the second half was much the same as the first with both sides not able to put away their chances. Effy Ambrose of Celtic powered a header into the ground towards the net from a great corner in the 58th minute, but the ball bounced too high and went over the crossbar in what could be considered to be the Scottish side’s best chance of the half. Things changed in the 67th minute, Arturo Vidal latched on to a brilliant ball from Andrea Pirlo before sliding it across to Fabio Quagliarella for another tap-in. 2-0 Juve and a 5-0 aggregate lead for the Italian club, leaving Celtic needing a near impossible five goals in order to progress! The remainder of the second half saw the two teams battling for possession and creating half-chances right up until the final whistle, breaking Celtic hearts and sending Juventus fans into jubilant celebration.
So, last night’s performance means that Juventus progress to the quarter-finals with ease whilst Celtic are unfortunately eliminated. Even though Juventus aren’t the strongest team in the tournament their consistency may just see them progress even further, although they will face some very difficult teams along the way. On the other hand, if Celtic are able to strengthen their squad to match the other European giants within the competition then they could definitely improve their Champions League performance next season, however this will take a large investment in the squad and further progression. We will have to wait until next season’s campaign to see!
