Celtic 0 – 3 Juventus
2 bad defensive mistakes and a good goal were still not quite enough for Juventus to stake their place in the last 8 of the Champions League. Sadly the Turin side resorted to classic tactics including time-wasting, kicking out at opponents and full body assault on any Celtic player daring to position themselves inside the Juve penalty box for a set piece. The Referee to his credit wasnt slow to penalise such action but incredibly his response was to book the innocent Celtic player along with the dirty tactic specialist in a Juventus strip. The wily Juve player simply laughed while Celtic just got more and more frustrated. This frustration only added to the ire felt by Celtic after failing to declare Sammi fit for even a place on the bench.
As for the actual game itself, all was going well for almost 3 minutes. A keen Celtic took the game to Juventus with Wanyama testing Buffon with a hard low drive. It all went wrong when a high ball sent up and over from the left hand side was missed by Ambrose. This error allowed Matri to run in and slide the ball through a lumbering Forsters legs. All game plans were thereafter up in the air. Celtic kept their composure and took the game to the Italian side, but chances were either from a distance, Wanyama with shots outside the box being saved by Buffon, or not clear-cut, the best being an overhead kick from Kris Commons which went just wide of the keepers right hand post. The Hoops huffed and puffed but couldnt break through with James Forrest failing to show up and Celtic failing to deliver the ball to Gary Hooper without him having back to the goal.
The first half ended with a frustrated Celtic trudging off knowing exactly what they were up against and an interesting challenge for the Celtic management team. Celtic had to their credit tried a few new set pieces but with the overly close-contact from the Juventus players and the lack of Samaras, goals from set pieces were looking unlikely.Celtic were needing more direct attacks in the final third and fans prayed for a goal.
The second half saw no changes and Celtic continued to push for an equalizer. With every infringement going unpunished ( bar another Hoop being booked of course) the hand of fate duly slapped us in the face. Efe Ambrose failed to connect properly with his header when being presented with an open goal and soon after Juventus scored on the counter with Matri setting up Marchisio who turned inside Scott Brown and then clinically slammed the ball passed Forster. The tie was effectively over and even fresh blood like Watt for Commons and Kayal for Brown had sadly no impact.
While the second goal took the wind right out of Celtic, the 3rd goal was just rubbing salt in the wound. Juventus final goal arrived with 10 minutes to go when a slow Ambrose found himself mugged on the edge of his own box and Marchisio stepped forward, passed the ball to his left for the waiting Mirko Vucinic who duly slammed the ball passed Forster. The referee blew his whistle and te game, the tie and the latest Celtic adventure in Europe was over.
After the game Neil Lennon admitted that it was a gamble to play Ambrose, after his recent sojourn to South Africa to play with a triumphant Nigeria, and sadly the gamble didnt pay off. Thems the breaks and no-one can complain really after the advances this season. Its a tough lesson to take but there is no doubt that this team, Players and Management will have learnt plenty and all lessons will go towards the 2013-14 CL Qualifiers.
As for Juventus, well there is some sad news for The Old Lady, Wrestling has been removed from the Olympic Ratified Sports list!
Etims MOTM – Izzy with nods to Big Vic, Wilson, Lustig and Commons.
Was disappointed in Wanyama.
He didnt seem interested to me or try to
impose himself on the game.
Izzy was a tireless runner, pinging in crosses
and Commons and Mulgrew had pretty good games.
Unfortunate as well that Forrest and Foster were
coming back from injury with not much game time
recently.
Thought Ambrose was fit enough but was just didnt
challenge forcefully enough for the first goal and
made the mistake of trying to dribble out of defence
for the third. As for the chance in front of goal
he just isnt a goalscorer unfortunately.
In summary was defeinately a positive performance
but we didnt get any breaks in front of goal and
our defensive frailties in Europe have been highlighted
again.
As for the referee, definately the worst i’ve seen against
us in Europe, and there have been quite a few.
As others have said, we’ve got further than Chelsea and
Man City, and will have got as far as either Man Utd or
Real Madrid.
Hail Hail
I think money really counts at this level. Celtic’s lack of it meant they were forced to play players that weren’t really ready. Foster looked rusty as did Forrest and of course lack of choice meant Ambrose had o be risked and it definitely didn’t work out. Against good defenses we need a big striker that can go for crosses or punts when we tire but all we had was Hooper.I don’t think he got on the end of a cross all night though we persisted in putting them in. Had Celtic the money there would be a Hartson (in his prime) type striker to go with the others.
Lack of money? Gie’s peace. A transfer window has just closed, where the manager knew he was going to lose Ambrose potentially for 3 weeks. Since it was ‘the biggest game of his career as manager’ someone should have been in place in the likely eventuality that Ambrose would not be ready. Pathetic and amateurish.
Very spirited performance with some neat football on display. We lacked a cutting edge near their box though, oh for a Lubo! Anyway, gamble did not pay off with big Effe but the vitriol and nonsense being spouted on other websites beggars belief. We will learn a lot from this game and that is a positive.
I agree Izzy had a good game but major blemish was his decision to cross the ball to the edge of the box and give possession away so cheaply – this lead to the goal. Effe gets caught under the ball a lot and Wilson does not seem capable of sweeping for him.
However, last 16 of the CL? A fantastic achievement and we can still be very proud of this. Lets be greedy and plan to go one stage further next year.
So, you can see your team lose three nil and feel proud. I couldnt get a ticket and had to watch at home. I was at all three group games and no defeats. Coincidence? I think not!. Celtic really couldnt have tried harder or given more, the referee couldn’t have tried harder or given less to help Juve. More than once recent calciopoli, match fixing and Platini comments came to.mind. The referee didnt have to give them any huge decisions but helped them out with lots of wee ones. Very frustrating. And as much as I love Lenny he shouldnt have out Ambrose in and while it was admirable to bring on Watt at the time in the game we were clearly knackered and I think should have tightened up and settled for a 0-1, keeping the tie alive for Turin. But hey, I only manage celtic on fifa so what do I know. Izza was class, big vic and skoosh kept juve off their rythmn for big periods of the match, commons looked quite creative until he tired and really I was so pleased we came out, attacked and played at a ferocious pace for so long. I think the club will have made a few new.fans down here south of the border and showed the world again what the celtic way is all about. Defeated, but not broken. Now, two quick goals in Turin and its game on…
John little dick’s harsh words bely the realities of football management in the SPL. Do you really expect Lennon to get a really good replacement for Ambrose in the event that he might not make it back in time? Not only are we talking about a big transfer fee but wages too. I would guess Lennon realistically expected Nigeria not to make it to the finals. He was wrong we know and he was also wrong to risk the big man. These things have to be tolerated. Our current policy of searching for great bargains is the way we will be locked into for a long time and we better get used to it.
What should have been the team without Ambrose?
Without ambrose we could have gone
Forster
Mathews Lustig (or Mulgrew) Wilson izza
Brown Wanyama Ledley Mulgrew (or Kayal)
commons
Hooper
I wouldn’t have played Forrest from start has hardly played past few months and would have been much better coming on late in game for last 15/20 mins. To my mind Ledley should start every big game great passer tackler & scores his fair shares of goals too especially from set pieces without being the tallest just great at timing his runs.
Forrest Mulgrew & Commons are our 3 most creative players but against Juve it was always going to be important to be able to keep it tight as well as having a creative input.
Anyway at least we reached the last 16 and over performed in the group stages lets face it if we’d been told we’d qualify in second place but get pumped 3-0 at home in the last 16 we’d have taken it at the start!!!
Johnlittledick requires a reality check , the club the management and the players have done us all proud in every thing they have Acheived.To expect the club to abandon their successful planned strategy for one game important as it was would be foolhardy. I can not beleive anyone could be so narrow minded, our club is the envy of Europe on and off the park. So lets give credit were credit is due, and hope for a good performance in the second leg, a successful end to the season and more of the same next season. Hail hail,keep the faith