Juventus 3 Celtic 2
By Brian McMahon
Celtic were left cursing their luck and the referee as they left Turin tonight, after a gritty fightback ended in tears as Juventus snatched victory with a controversial penalty.
Juventus dominated the first half, as Celtic looked nervy, and the Italians looked good value for their one-goal lead at half time, David Trezeguet netting after some impressive work from Chilean Marcelo Salas after 43 minutes.
They doubled their advantage just after the break, with Trezeguet heading past a despairing Douglas for his second of the night.
The Scottish champions sprang into action soon after the goal, and for large periods of the second half, they looked the more impressive side.
They pulled a goal back thanks to a deflected Stilian Petrov free kick, and their cause was further helped with the sending off of the returning Edgar Davids, for his second bookable offence.
Celtic really had the bit between their teeth, and after 84 minutes, they pulled off what had seemed an unlikely comeback. Chris Sutton was bundled over in the box, and Henrik Larsson coolly slotted home the resulting penalty to tie things up at 2-2.
The Celts looked to be hanging on for a well-earned draw, when disaster struck. Joos Valgaeren was adjudged to have shoved Juventus substitute Amoruso, and the Italian stuck the ball away to snatch a suspect victory.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill was furious, and had to be directed to the stand by the referee.