Celtic reflect on UCL adventure

Goals on the night from Alessandro Matri and Fabio Quagliarella gave Juventus a 2-0 win, 5-0 on aggregate, but Samaras believes Celtic can look back on their overall campaign with pride.

"I would say that it was a great experience for all the lads," he told Sky Sports 2. "We're a young team with a lot of talent, and that's an experience we'll learn from.

"I think it was a great journey for everyone in the club, the players, the coaches, staff and supporters, they've enjoyed it from the first second to the last. Next year hopefully we'll be back in the Champions League."

The odds were always stacked against Celtic on the night but Samaras kept the result in perspective.

"We're playing against a great team in the round of 16, it's a big thing for us," he said. "We tried to play attacking football, to press them high like we did in the first half and we had a couple of chances but we didn't take them.

"But I didn't see any negative things in the game. We keep the positive things and keep learning."

Celtic exceeded expectations by coming this far, and Samaras believes the memories of a campaign that included victory over Barcelona and a double against Spartak Moscow will stay with the club for a long time.

"We're trying really hard all together to be a successful team," Samaras said. "The highlights of this journey were the two games against Barcelona, the way we played, the heart we showed was something amazing, not only for the players but also the supporters and the club. We'll remember these games for many years."

Manager Neil Lennon had no complaints about the result and also applauded his players on coming this far.

"Quality counts at the end of the day," Lennon said. "Our finishing at times let us down, our build-up play was very good but it's about execution. (Efe) Ambrose had a great chance with a header before half-time that would have made it 1-1 and who knows what would have happened.

"On the night class tells in the end and that's what's happened in the two games."

Lennon cast doubt on how many of his current squad will still be at the club next season, perhaps a result of the potential they have shown in Europe.

"I hope they've learned a lot as they move on in their careers," he said. "They've done the club proud and tonight I'm proud to be the manager here in this fantastic arena.

"I hope these young guys will blossom from this experience. But last-16 is cut throat and Juventus beat us."

Asked about the summer transfer window, he added: "It's going to be a big ask (to keep them all). It's hard to stop progression...

"We'll see what the summer brings. There'll be players who want to progress their careers and it's a progression for us too. We want to bring in players, develop them and sell them on, so far that strategy's worked for us."

Lennon also revealed that defender Efe Ambrose was disciplined for being late for training on Wednesday morning ahead of the second-leg tie but insists it was not the reason the defender was omitted from the starting eleven.

The Hoops boss confirmed that the Nigeria international missed the team bus from the hotel and had to catch up by taxi.

In the event, Ambrose replaced the injured Victor Wanyama for the start of the second-half.

Lennon was however in no mood to expand upon the Ambrose incident, saying: "There was disciplinary action taken against him but it wouldn't have affected the team selection tonight [Wednesday]."

Pressed on the issue, the Northern Irishman "Is this the best line of questioning we can do here? Are we not going to talk about the game, are we going to talk about things which aren't important?"

Asked about his own memories of the Champions League campaign, he added: "Winning in Moscow was very special and the two games against Barcelona were titanic, coinciding with the club's anniversary it was very emotional."

Juventus boss Antonio Conte was impressed by the way the travelling fans stood by their side when it was clear that their European journey was ending.

He said: "I would like to thank all the supporters, the Juventus supporters especially, and the Scottish supporters because they kept on supporting the team and dancing all the time, it was a very positive example to all of us

"We can't forget that Celtic qualified with important results against Barcelona and Benfica so we shouldn't undervalue that they are a very strong team who had to be evaluated very carefully.

"We are in the quarter-finals, the whole club is satisfied that we are back in the elite of European football and we hope to go on the right way."