Celtic were the better side in the opening 45 minutes in terms but a massive defensive mistake in the opening minutes allowed Juventus to take a 1-0 lead and claim an away goal.
Celtic vs. Juventus: Halftime score 0-1, Defensive gaffe has Juventus ahead at the break
The roaring crowd at Celtic Park was struck silent in the 3rd minute when Efe Ambrose, fresh off a plane from the Africa Cup of Nations, horribly misplayed a long ball down the left side, allowing Alessandro Matri around him. Fraser Forster wasn't quick enough off his line and Matri's shot got past him before being cleared off the line (replay showed it crossed the line). In the end it didn't matter as Claudio Marchisio was following up the play and blasted the shot in to the back of the net, giving Juventus the early lead.
Celtic were able to bounce back from the goal and get some decent pressure on Juventus but there was no doubt the bianconeri were zeroed in on Ambrose who misplayed another long ball minutes after the goal that nearly led to Marchisio making it 2-0. Luckily for Celtic, the striker couldn’t get a good strike on a cross at the far post.
Kris Commons came every so close to equalizing for Celtic in the 28th minute, sending an overhead kick attempt off a cross from open play spinning just wide of the post. Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon never saw the shot and was frozen, so he would have had no chance of making a stop if the effort had been on target.
All in all not a bad half for Celtic in terms of possession and creating chances on goal. Of course, any positives were swept about by the defensive mistake and allowing Juventus to grab an early away goal. Celtic are going to need a couple goals at least to take with them to Italy if they have any hope of winning the tie.
In the end, a random Juventus fan getting on TV waving his middle fingers was probably the most exciting moment of the half.
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