Juventus put themselves on the brink of a Champions League quarter-final spot courtesy of a clinical display against defending Scottish champions Celtic in the caldron of Celtic Park.
Antonio Conte’s men came under considerable spells of heavy pressure as the hosts drew inspiration from their vociferous backing at Parkhead. But having soaked up Celtic’s endeavour, the Bianconeri capitalised on tiring legs to guarantee a resounding three-goal advantage to take into March’s return encounter at Juventus Stadium.
The statistics from Tuesday night’s game in Glasgow support Juve’s resilient approach to handling Neil Lennon’s league leaders, who came out on top in almost every area bar the final outcome itself.
But despite laying claim to almost twice the amount of shots on goal - 17 to 9 - the hosts were restricted to very few clear cut chances, with Gigi Buffon only troubled by Efe Ambrose’s second half header and several tentative efforts from outside the area.
Down the other end, Juventus were economical with their seven attempts on target, making three of these count through decisive strikes from Alessandro Matri, Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic.
Celtic’s principal threat stemmed from set pieces, in particular corners, and Conte’s side stood tall in the face of adversity as the Scots jostled in the penalty area to impose their physical advantage on ten separate occasions.
Elsewhere, Juventus shaded the closely contested battle in the middle of the park, commanding 51% of possession which, coupled with unforgiving ruthlessness in the opposition’s final third, enabled them to edge out their hosts and hand their chances of progression in Europe’s most prestigious competition a significant boost.
Source: Juventus.com
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