Neil Lennon's pre-match confidence was proven to be misplaced as his Celtic side were beaten comprehensively as Juventus hit 3 past Fraser Forster in Scotland, meaning the Italians have all but secured their place in the Champions League quarter-final.
Whilst the scoreline suggests a seriously one sided encounter, the Scottish champions competed well throughout the 90 minutes and started with intent as Victor Wanyama forced Gianluigi Buffon into an early save.
Unfortunately, whilst Buffon was equal to Celtic's first effort on goal, Fraser Forster was beaten after just 3 minutes when a simple long ball allowed Alessandro Matri to poke the ball through his legs and over the line.
The remainder of the first half saw Juventus defend strongly against consistent Celtic pressure, but most of the goalmouth action was centred around some aggressive man marking to say the least from the Italians. Manager Neil Lennon was unhappy with the refereeing, and may find himself in hot water with UEFA for implying that the referee favoured Juventus.
Juventus were content to sit back and hit Celtic on the break, and they did so to great effect in the second half.
Matri was involved again for the second goal, as his deft touch found Claudio Marchisio who placed the ball past Forster from the left of Celtic's penalty area.
Mirko Vucinic killed the tie when Efe Ambrose, straight back into the Celtic side after returning from the African Cup of Nations, was robbed of the ball by Marchisio who fed Vucinic for the third and final goal.
Whilst Celtic will take heart from a battling display and a fantastic atmosphere at Celtic Park, the fact that Juventus didn't really have to enter full throttle to earn such a commanding victory shows the gulf in class that ultimately exists between the sides.
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