LATEST NEWS

CELTIC - JUVENTUS 4 - 3

Marcello Lippi selected the players who so far have played least this season. Lippi also had to give up on playing Davids, who succumbed to a muscle problem in his right calf. In his place, Lippi played Tacchinardi, alongside Maresca, back from stomach problems that had stopped him from training on the eve of the game. The four man defence, saw Birindelli and Paramatti as the fullbacks, with Ferrara and Iuliano the centre backs. On the wings there were Zenoni and Nedved, whilst up front Del Piero partnered Amoruso in attack.

Carini, making his official Juve debut, was quickly caled into action by "goldenboot" Larsson in the 4th minute. He was further tested in the 12th minute by a dangerous effort from Mjallby and in the 15th when he came out to deny Larsson. He looked a secure goalkeeper. Celtic attacked, whilst Juve waited for the right moment, and indeed from their first opportunity they scored. From a perfect freekick, Del Piero, beat Douglas (0-1). He then ran over to the part of the stadium where the bianconero fans were situated, to receive their applause. The Scots kept going though, with an effort from Moravcik, that finished safely in the arms of Carini. Then the same Moravcik slung over a perfect cross, that was headed home by Valgaeren (1-1). The stadium burst into celebration, whilst the home side, galvanised, continued to press, first through Agathe, whose shot went wide, and then through Valgaeren, who didn't manage to double his account, heading wide. Juve came back through Tacchinardi, who shot narrowly over from distance. Then in the last minute of the half, Celtic took the lead through Sutton, who climbed high to head past Carini.

At halftime, as planned, Lippi took Del Piero off, replacing him with Trezeguet, who after just five minutes of the second half, made his mark. Receiving the ball from Amoruso, he drilled a low diagonal shot past Douglas (2-2). However, the equaliser didn't last long. In the 57th minute the referee saw a foul by Iuliano in the area, and gave a penalty, converted by Larsson (3-2). Celtic wanted to close the game and felt they had managed it when in the 63rd minute, the unmarked Sutton volleyed home a fierce shot (4-2). The Scots nearly increased the lead just a minute later, when Carini did well to come out and clear from Larsson. The game had just started to lose a bit of intensity, when Trezeguet threw the game back into doubt. The Frenchman benefitted from a rebound in the area, to slam home a right foot effort (4-3). Lippi then decided to give a debut to youth team player, Alessandro Frara, who came on for Maresca. However, there was still time for a final drama, when Iuliano saw an injury time goal ruled out for offside.

FIRST HALF
4’: Carini comes out to clear from Larsson
6’: Maresca shoots wide from distance
12’: Mjallby shoots, Carini saves conceding a corner
15’: Carini again comes out to deny Larsson
16’: Nedved shoots over
19’: Del Piero sends a freekick from the edge of the area into the top corner (0-1)
20’: Moravcik effort is stopped by Carini
23’: cross by Moravcik is headed home by Valgaeren (1-1)
27’: Agathe volleys wide
34’: Valgaeren heads off target
42’: Long range strike by Tacchinardi is just over
45’: Sutton heads Celtic into the lead (2-1)

SECOND HALF:
5’: Amoruso passes to Trezeguet, who scores with an excellent shot(2-2)
12’: Whilst jockeying for a corner, the referee sees a foul by Iuliano, and gives a penalty, from which Larsson scores
(3-2) 18’: Sutton scores with a great strike (4-2)
19’: Larsson shoots, Carini saves with his feet
31’: Trezeguet benefits from a rebound, to beat Douglas (4-3)
49’: Iuliano goal is disallowed for offside