The Breakdown: Juventus vs Celtic

By FOX Sports Staff

Strikes either side of the interval from Alessandro Matri (24th minute) and Fabio Quagliarella (65th minute) sealed victory over the Scottish champions.

The Serie A side, who had not progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition since 2005/06, went through 5-0 on aggregate.

This was only the third time Celtic had made it into the Champions League knockout rounds.

Juventus

Defence

Juventus headed into the second leg 3-0 up and they all but sealed their place into the next round after a great defensive effort from Barzagli - it was his challenge which led to a swift Juve counter-attacking move eventually finished off by Matri for the opening goal in Wednesday's match.

The tie might have been over for most but not for Juventus keeper Buffon, who put in a thoroughly professional display. He wasn't called upon to make too many saves but when he had to they were quality such as his reactionary save to divert a deflected effort from Hooper for a corner.

If there was one area where Juve were slightly exposed in defence it was when they allowed themselves to get isolated against Samaras.

Overall, Juventus were tight at the back and have now won seven out of seven against Scottish visitors, scoring 18 goals and conceding only three.

Buffon - 7 | Barzagli - 7 | Marrone - 6.5 | Bonucci - 6.5

Midfield

With Peluso and Padoin dropping back to help form a back-five for Juventus, Celtic did not enjoy too many clear cut opportunities.

However, this had an impact on Juve's effectiveness going forward as Celtic's diamond formation in midfield overcrowded them in the centre of the park. Pirlo in particular cut a very lonely looking figure in the first half.

Of course, there were also bright sparks for Juve, namely in the shape of Pogba and Vidal who both drove Juve forward with their athleticism and power.

That's not to say Pirlo had a horrid game either. It was his pin-point pass which allowed Vidal to get in behind Izaguirre to cross for Quagliarella to tap-in to make it 2-0.

Pogba - 7 | Padoin - 6.5 | Pirlo (Off 69') - 7 | Vidal (Off 67') - 7.5 | Peluso (Off 58') - 6.5

Attack

The interplay between Matri and Quagliarella was excellent and, at times, they carved Celtic open too easily. For Juve's first goal, Matri showed terrific instinct to get to the rebound first after Quagliarella's effort had been blocked by the Celtic goalkeeper.

The home side's second goal was typical Juve. Pirlo made the defence splitting pass for the midfield runner to cross and set-up an easy chance at the far post which Quagliarella accepted.

Quagliarella - 8 | Matri - 8

With the tie over and Juventus' place in the next round assured, manager Antonio Conte handed Asamoah, Isla and Giaccherini some minutes.

SUBS: Asamoah (On 58') - 6 | Isla (On 67') - 6 | Giaccherini (On 69') - 6

 

Celtic

Defence

All things considered, Celtic did not have a bad game. Juventus are virtually unbeatable at the newly-minted Juventus Stadium and so the Scottish champions were always going to be up against it. Celtic were brave too. They didn't just sit back. They got on the ball with defenders like Izaguirre venturing forward to cross.

But what they had in heart they lacked in a bit of quality and they never got to grips with the neat interplay between Matri and Quagliarella. On a few occasions Celtic were bailed out by their English goalkeeper - his best save came probably just after the interval when he denied Quagliarella who shot from just inside the box after being teed up by Matri.

Wanyama played as a makeshift defender but was ineffective and came out at half-time while right-back Matthews had an average game before succumbing to what looked like a hamstring injury.

Forster - 7.5 | Matthews (Off 52') - 6.5 | Izaguirre - 6.5 | Wilson - 6.5 | Wanyama (Off 46') - 6

Midfield

There was no shock in the Celtic line-up with Samaras returning after missing the first leg in Glasgow with an injury. Unfortunately, he could not add to his three goals in this season's competition despite asking some questions of the Juve defence.

Charlie Mulgrew, who did not play at the weekend, was restored in midfield alongside Ledley, Commons and Kayal. Together, Celtic's midfield actually managed to outnumber Juventus and they enjoyed plenty of possession (56%) despite being the away side.

Commons was also a goal scoring threat and it was his shot which looked to have been deflected into the back of the net from Hooper but for the superb reflexes of Juve custodian Buffon.

The best chance for Celtic to score came in the first half when Samaras managed to get one-v-one with his marker on the left; he beat him on the outside before his cross-shot (he seemed caught in two minds) was inches away from being turned in at the far post by Hooper.

Commons (Off 73') - 7 | Mulgrew - 6.5 | Ledley - 6.5 | Kayal - 6.5 | Samaras - 7

Attack

Touted as the danger man by Juventus coach Antonio Conte before the first leg, Hooper has not really lived up to this billing. He hasn't been awful - and in Wednesday's game he almost scored via deflected Commons' shot. However, he should have troubled Juventus a lot more than he did as his bulldozing style would have certainly made it more interesting from a neutral's point of view.

To make matters worse - it was Hooper who got caught in possession in the first half by Barzagli which led to Juve's opening goal for Matri.

Hooper - 5.5

Ambrose came on for the ineffective Wanyama after the break but really should have done better with a free header in the 58th minute. The free chance came from a corner but Ambrose headed the ball into the ground.

Forest was a forced change as Celtic manager Neil Lennon had to take off the injured Matthews.

SUBS: Ambrose (On 46') - 6.5 | Forrest (On 52') - 6.5 | Nouioui (On 73') - 6.5