Celtic will host Juventus Turin at the Celtic Park on Tuesday, February 12th at 19:45 in the first leg of the last 16.
Juventus Turin can expect a hostile environment tonight at the Celtic Park. The Celtic stadium is sold out with 60,000 fans and already created a raucous backdrop when Neil Lennon’s side beat Barcelona in the Champions League group stage.
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon played down the advantage Celtic fans might give their team and said: “The atmosphere is very British in many ways but, as far as I can remember, no fan has ever scored a goal.” Juventus will enter the game full of confidence after beating Fiorentina on Saturday with 2-0. They are five points clear of Napoli at the top of Serie A and added Nicolas Anelka to their squad during the transfer window. Wing-back Kwadwo Asamoah won’tt be available for Juve as he has been playing the Africa Cup of Nations.
Celtic will face Juventus without Samaras who still suffers a hamstring injury. Also, Ambrose will miss the game since he played for Nigeria in their Africa Cup of Nations. Neil Lennon is excited about the challenge and said: “We’re going up against a great team and a great coach. It’s very exciting for me to challenge myself against Juventus. In terms of motivation, I don’t think the players need anymore from me. It’s one of the biggest games of their careers.” Celtic’s Champions League performance had a major financial impact and increased the club’s revenue by 71% to £50.06m.
