By Greg Robertson
Hello and welcome to Glasgow and Parkhead where we have Scottish Celtic hosting Italy’s Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League 2013 last 16 action.
Celtic have never reached the knock out stage of this competition; Juventus are old hats at it. Celtic’s controversial manager Neil Lennon has asked his side to seize the moment.
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LIVE COMMENTARY… Celtic 0 v 3 Juventus
FULLTIME: A crushing home defeat for celtic. ALL VIDEO IS NOW UP.
87 MINS: Celtic heads are down. They just want this one to end.
84 MINS: GOAL Juve again. Celtic are devastated. It's Vucinic this time as Celtic have a shocker and lose the ball just outside the box, Vucinic played in and slips it under the keeper.VIDEO UP
77 MINS: GOAL Juventus. Marchisio with the break down the left, runs the ball into the penalty area, cuts it back then unleashes his effort only for Forster to get a hand to it but not able to keep it out.VIDEO UP
74 MINS: Corner number three-tousand-and-thirty-five for Celtic. Brown in the book while it's taken and a quinella of crap corners for the home side, Buffon again with the easy catch. Celtic are bending it in when they need to drive it hard.
74 MINS: Chris Commons comes off for Celtic and Tony Watts onto the Parklands errr park.
72 MINS: Yet another corner for the home side and up goes the volume at Parklands, quietening down again when Buffon claims it with two hands.
70 MINS: Celtic with yet another chance to put pressure on through a corner. A tic over 20 minutes to and for Celtic fans don't despair, they've every chance of netting twice. Peluson makes way for Padoin for Juve. It's been cleared. set pieces were supposed to be a strength for Celtic. Juve holding up to the challenge.
67 MINS: Vucinic with a rare chance at the other end but his shot is blocked by bodies in the box.
62 MINS: Celtic with a corner, whipped in and OHHHH Ambrose with the free header but it's straight at Ambrose. Huge chance goes begging.VIDEO UP
58 MINS: There's plenty of talent on and off the pitch... Rod Stewart, Billy Connelly and others in the stands.
58 MINS: Forrest throws himself at a good looking cross in desperation but can't meet the delivery. He goes down in the box and the fans scream for a penalty after what looked like a wee nudge in the back. No response from the ref but a 'play on'.Good signs for the home side but no reward will be a concern considering the wealth of possession. Lustig coming off for Celtic and Adam Matthews makes his way onto the park.
55 MINS: Camp Celtic and their tents are starting to be packed up and they're now building towns complete with roads inside the Juve half. Not sure yet if they will lead to Wembley. Not a great deal of second half highlights.
52 MINS: Charlie Mulgrew with an excursion forward and he's allowed to dribble and dribble some more, the wall pass not coming of as Celtic tries to work it into the danger area. Celtic lacking a little precision so far this half.
50MINS: Juve players with nose bleeds from the heights of being well up field and trying to acclimatise. They needn't bother, Celtic grabbing hold of the ball and normal service resumes.,/p>
48 MINS: Celtic are not allowing Juventus a moment's peace. They deliver a floater into the box and we see yet another scramble with a similar result, Juve getting away with it.
47 MINS: The second half is underway and just like the first it's Celtic with the territory. An early free kick for the home side sees Lustig trying to get up like a salmon but he needed to be much further up the river to get a solid header to that one.
An ominous statistic as Juventus has never lost a Champions League tie when leading at halftime while Celtic have never one when trailing.
45+1 MINS: That's halftime. Celtic will be disappointed to be 1-0 down at the break as they've had the better of it. The away goal has swung the tide in the Italian club's favour and Celtic have it all to do in the second 45.
44 MINS: Danger signs as Juve win a dubious corner late in the half... Celtic pull most back. It's taken short, an angled ball allows Vidal to run onto one and his shot finds one of the many sets of legs inside the penalty area... Celtic legs or Juve legs, take your pick.
42 MINS: Chris Commons with back to goal gets ball to feet, spins, shoots and you may recognise this 'Buffon gets down to it' to make the save. There's been plenty of shots on target but they really haven't stretched the Juve keeper to pull out any stunners. Hooper then in the box is all over Lichsteiner and called for it accordingly. Looked dangerous for a minute. Forrest in the book for a clumsy challenge.
38 MINS: Justig bends one in from the right and sends shivers through the Juve defence. They scramble it away though under pressure. Looks like Lichtsteiner and Hooper both on the wrong side of the ref and enter their names in the book. There's some bustle in the box and how's your father as Hooper and Lichsteiner get involved in some push and shove.
33 MINS: The early goal has been given to Matri. Celtic still camped at the right end of the pitch. Juve providing the danger on the break.
30 MINS: Neil Lennon has the jitters on the bench - he can't sit still.
28 MINS: Danger for Celtic as a long ball lands in no man's land, Vucinic going through to get the first touch ahead of an advancing Forster, but the keeper fleetly from his line forces play wide and gives enough time for the home side to regroup. Ohhh Commons with an overhead flies just wide. Great ball in from Lustig and Commons with back to goal tries the bicycle.VIDEO UP
24 MINS: Wanyama again from distance for Celtic but this one isn't up to the scratch of his first couple/
23 MINS: Replays are showing that Matri's effort actually crossed the line.We;ll just have to see if the earlier goal is given to him or Marchision.
21 MINS: Juventus with a rare trip north of the halfway mark. The Celtic defence deals with it. Matri chests a delightful ball but Ambrose with the foot in before he can unleash a right boot on goal.
20 MINS: Pass, pass, pass. Long ball. Control, pass, pass, turn, pass, pass, pass, pass, square. Ball retention really not a problem for Celtic.
17 MINS: Celtic should be fairly encouraged despite the scoreline as they are finding a way to get in behind Juventus and create chances.
16 MINS: Great play down Celtic's left flank and a ball to the corner allows Forrest to deliver first time with Chris Commons meeting it on the half volley. Wide. Seven attempts on goal with four on target for Celtic.
13 MINS: This is being played at a cracking pace. End-to-end stuff and it's split in terms of chances... actually, aside from the goal probably Celtic with the upper hand in terms of shots on goal.
12 MINS: Celtic with a long floating corner to the back post and Milgrew gets a header to it, down into the ground and bouncing up for Buffon to claim with both hands.
10 MINS: Ball falls for Chris Commons on the edge of the area and lets rip low too with a left boot, Buffon down to it again.
9 MINS: Peluson this time for Juventus has a shot that flies wide. Shoot, they look like scoring every time they get in the attacking third.
6 MINS: Wanyama has been everywhere in the early exchanges and he hits one first time low and heard with Buffon down quickly to it.VIDEO UP
3 MINS: Mix up at the back for Celtic and GOAL Juventus. Forster is beaten and Celtic scramble it off the line but Marchisio follows it up to blast it into the roof of the net.VIDEO UP
1 MINS: We're underway... Celtic with the early ball and straight away Celtic win a corner with Wanyama having a crack from long range and Buffon unable to hold it. A well delivered corner into the heart of the six yard box has Juventus scrambling.VIDEO UP
Celtic have treated their fans - 18 points clear in their division while Juventus are five points clear in theirs. Juventus greeted to a 'Great Wall of Noise' as they head out onto the pitch. 'London calling' says the banner.... and all roads lead to Wembley according to Celtic fans.
We have live pictures and Glasgow is pumped for this one...
Teams
Celtic: Forster; Lustig, Wilson, Ambrose, Izaguirre; Forrest, Brown, Wanyama, Mulgrew; Commons, Hooper
Juventus: Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Caceres, Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Peluso, Matri, Vucinic
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Pregame banter
Celtic trained and held a news conference on Monday ahead of their Champions League last 16 first leg clash with Juventus of Italy in Glasgow.
Celtic coach Neil Lennon is waiting to hear about the availability of two key players for the match at Celtic's ground, Parkhead.
Forward Georgios Samaras is battling to recover from a hamstring injury while defender Efe Ambrose played for Nigeria in their 1-0 African Nations Cup final win over Burkina Faso on Sunday and will not be back in Glasgow until Tuesday morning.
Left-back Emilio Izaguirre has recovered from a knee injury while winger James Forrest is fit again following a hamstring problem.
Celtic have never reached the knockout stages of the Champions League before but have only been beaten twice in their previous 23 home matches in the competition.
"To qualify was the best thing I've done in a managerial sense – to get out of the group with 10 points," Lennon said. "We might never get this opportunity again. I don't want people thinking this is going to be an annual thing, because it's a very difficult thing to do. So we have to maximise our opportunities,” says Lennon.
"We might never get here again. Gordon Strachan did it two years in a row here, Alex McLeish did it [with Rangers] the year before that. So it was almost as if it was going to be a foregone conclusion every year. But it's such a difficult ride to get here. We have to make the most of it now.
Serie A table-toppers Juventus have reached the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds for the tenth time.
Should they beat Celtic over two legs, the Turin club will enter the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2005/06 campaign.
In this season's competition Juventus were undefeated in Group E, boasting three wins and three draws to finish ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk, Chelsea and Danish minnows Nordsjaelland.
Now the focus is on Parkhead.
'Juve' warmed up with match with a 2-0 victory over Fiorentina, putting the team's league campaign back on track after struggling somewhat in January.
Fullback Paolo De Ceglie is out of action with a right thigh muscle injury.
Ghana midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah is another man who won't feature after flying back from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Star man Andrea Pirlo played against Fiorentina despite suffering a thigh strain on international duty with Italy, meanwhile.
These clubs are meeting 11 years on from contesting two outstanding group stage fixtures, as Juventus won 3-2 on home soil before suffering a 4-3 loss in Scotland.
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source: newshub archive
