13-02-2013, 00:59
I actually thought Celtic played quite well despite the scoreline indicating that they got thrashed. Juventus were quiet ordinary in my opinion, but defended superbly, were clinical up front and perhaps they were happy for Celtic to have so much of the ball, as they knew they could deal with it. Juventus's job was made much easier though when they took an early lead because Celtic had to commit players forward and Juventus looked dangerous on the counter attack.
Although statistically Celtic had a lot of shots on goal, they never really forced Buffon to make a serious save and missed their best chance all game when Ambrose missed a free header. As the game progressed, I thought they were becoming too predictable by all the time putting crosses into the box for Hooper to go for, but I don't think he ever stood a chance against Juventus's back three without Samaras also offering an aerial threat. It really was baffling to see Lennon play Ambrose tonight. He wasn't in the right frame of mind in my opinion to play in this match after a couple of days winning an African Cup of Nations final with Nigeria. Plus travelling all the way from South Africa to Glasgow must have left the player pretty jet lagged even if he felt ready to play. Maybe Lennon had no other options in his squad, but I still feel it was too risky to play Ambrose tonight and he cost them two goals tonight.
Juventus are definitely through to the quarter finals now and I don't see Celtic beating Juventus especially with their terrible away record and the fact Juventus will have Cheilini and Asamoah back in the team.
Although statistically Celtic had a lot of shots on goal, they never really forced Buffon to make a serious save and missed their best chance all game when Ambrose missed a free header. As the game progressed, I thought they were becoming too predictable by all the time putting crosses into the box for Hooper to go for, but I don't think he ever stood a chance against Juventus's back three without Samaras also offering an aerial threat. It really was baffling to see Lennon play Ambrose tonight. He wasn't in the right frame of mind in my opinion to play in this match after a couple of days winning an African Cup of Nations final with Nigeria. Plus travelling all the way from South Africa to Glasgow must have left the player pretty jet lagged even if he felt ready to play. Maybe Lennon had no other options in his squad, but I still feel it was too risky to play Ambrose tonight and he cost them two goals tonight.
Juventus are definitely through to the quarter finals now and I don't see Celtic beating Juventus especially with their terrible away record and the fact Juventus will have Cheilini and Asamoah back in the team.
