Juventus 3 - Celtic 2
Tuesday 18th September 2001
Juventus came out on top in a game which will be remembered for two controversial late penalties and the sending off of Dutch midfield star Edgar Davids in his first game back following a five month drugs ban.
Davids received his second yellow card with 15 minutes to go following a series of reckless challenges.
And the dramatic finale of this Group E clash, Celtic boss Martin O'Neill was also ordered off for protesting about the last-minute penalty which allowed Nicola Amoruso to claim the points for Juventus.
The German referee was well away from the action when Celtic defender Joos Valgaeren was adjudged to have brought down substitute Amoruso, who got up to tuck the ball away.
It was harsh on Celtic, who had fought back from 2-0 on their Champions' League debut against one of the teams tipped to win the competition.
The Glasgow club started well and could have gone in front on the half-hour mark when a superb save from Gianluigi Buffon denied Chris Sutton. The former Chelsea striker got his head to a long cross from Neil Lennon and the ball looked to have gone past the Juve keeper when he clawed it away.
The home side took the lead just before the break when Marcelo Salas beat Valgaeren to set up an easy finish for France striker David Trezeguet.
Didier Agathe missed a great chance from just ten yards out before Juve doubled their lead ten minutes into the second half with a classy effort.
Alex Del Piero skinned his man and crossed for Trezeguet who managed to get his head round the ball and bullet it into the net.
Del Piero missed a great a chance to seal it before Stilian Petrov got the Hoops back into the game with a deflected effort from a free-kick before Davids received his marching orders for disputing a decision.
Celtic were pressing forward when the referee adjudged that Sutton had been impeded in the box with five minutes remaining and Swedish striker Henrik Larsson made no mistake.
But it was Amoruso, who came on for Del Piero, who came up with the decisive strike, although Button was forced to make a save from Sutton at the death.
Juventus: Buffon, Thuram, Montero, Iuliano; Zenoni, Tacchinardi,Davids, Pessotto (Birindelli 64), Del Piero, Salas (O'Neill 69),
Trezeguet
Celtic: Douglas, Mjallby, Valgaeren, Balde, Agathe, Lennon, Lambert, Thompson (Petta 59), Petrov, Larsson, Sutton
Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany)
Sent off: Davids (Juventus); O'Neill (Celtic)
Booked: Thompson, Valgaeren (Celtic); Iuliano, Birindelli (Juventus)
Attendance: 25,000
