Celtic Glasgow will face Juventus Turin in the last 16 of the Champions League. Read our in depth article about this Champions League last 16 matchup.
Celtic v Juventus
First leg: Celtic Park, Glasgow. Tuesday, February 2, 2013.
Second leg: Juventus Stadium, Turin. Wednesday, March 6.
Back in 1967, Celtic’s Lions of Lisbon became the first British side to win the old European Cup. Famously that team was of locals: only one was born more than 10 miles away from Celtic Park.
Times have changed since then, but Celtic have a great record against Italian sides since that famous win over Internazionale in Portugal’s Estádio Nacional. The Bhoys haven’t lost a home tie to a top flight Italian outfit since 1969, when Milan knocked them out at the quarter-final stage with a 1-0 first leg win in Glasgow.
On this occasion though, the Old Lady of Italian football, who have won the competition outright twice, are certainly the favourites. They’re seasoned campaigners at this stage of the Champions League. They last won the title in 1996, beating Ajax on penalties in the first of three finals for the northern Italian giants. They were also defeated finalists in 2003 when Milan won on penalties after a tense, goalless 120 minutes at Old Trafford.
Both managers have history in the competition as players for the clubs they now coach. Antonio Conte of Juve captained them to the 1999 semi-final and hit the bar in the 2003 final on the way to shootout defeat.
Celtic’s Neil Lennon was actually playing the last time the two sides met in 2001 in two thrilling group stage matches that saw Celtic gain revenge for a 3-2 away defeat with a famous 4-3 win at Celtic Park. His assistant manager Johan Mjallby was also on the pitch that day.
The venerable Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is the only player still turning out for his side 12 years on although his team mate Pavel Nedved is now on the board in Turin and veteran midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo has faced the Hoops five times as a Milan player.
A good start to this tie is key to Celtic’s hopes. Their away win at Spartak on the way to second place in Group G was their first in 21 attempts in this competition. But at home they showed what their support can do with a famous shock win over Barcelona.
Juve come out unbeaten and firmly on top of Group E and are undefeated in 16 Champions League matches. They don’t have a great record in Scotland though – losing on three of their last four trips north – and may take a damage limitation approach in the first leg.
Head to head
Celtic Glasgow
League position on February 4
First
Last five games (all competitions, most recent last)
W, W, W, L, W
Odds
165/41
Juventus
League position on February 4
First
Last five games (all competitions, most recent last)
W, D, D, L, W
Odds
5/6
Draw odds 11/4
Check out the other Champions League last 16 matchups :
Valencia CF vs Paris Saint-Germain
FC Shakhtar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid CF v Manchester United FC
Arsenal FC – FC Bayern München
FC Porto v Málaga CF
Galatasaray A.S. v FC Schalke 04
AC Milan v FC Barcelona