Champions League: We won’t take Celtic lightly, claim high-flying Juventus

Scottish giants aim to pull off miracle win, PSG meet Valencia tonight.

MILAN: Juventus claim they are not taking the threat of Celtic lightly when the Scottish champions arrive in Turin hoping to pull off a Champions League miracle in their last 16 second leg tonight.

Antonio Conte’s side put one foot in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since being ousted by Arsenal in 2006 thanks to a 3-0 first leg rout of Neil Lennon’s team in Glasgow last month.

Juventus said ‘the Bhoys’ desire to place a dent in Juve’s qualification hopes means Conte is leaving no stone unturned’.

“Nothing is in the bag yet,” said defender Giorgio Chiellini. “We still have a lot to do and need to approach this game believing that.”

Lennon admits Juve boast quality, but the Northern Irishman believes the Scots were hard done by in Glasgow.

“What we would like to do is go there and compete and try and win the tie,” said Lennon. “We want to try and make it look like the score-line at Celtic Park was a little bit flattering to Juventus.

“We felt there wasn’t that much between the teams although they did have a lot of class in their side as you would expect from Juventus. If we can go there and win it will be a tremendous way to end the campaign.”

PSG keen to show their European credentials

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are under pressure to clinch their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at Valencia’s expense after their latest below-par domestic performance.

The French club are top of Ligue 1 and lead Valencia 2-1 from the first leg of their last-16 tie, but a 1-0 defeat away to Reims on Saturday came as a blow to Carlo Ancelotti’s squad before tonight’s game at the Parc des Princes.

Furthermore, bizarre comments by sporting director Leonardo will come back to bite PSG if they are unable to see off their Spanish opponents.

“Maybe we are not made to play in games like these,” claimed the Brazilian after the defeat to a Reims side that had won just once in their previous 19 matches in all competitions. “Perhaps we have a team designed more for Europe than the league.”

Nevertheless, attentions are now fully fixed on the continental scene, and vital away goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore mean that PSG have the edge coming into the return leg of this tie, even if a late Adil Rami goal in the first leg allowed Valencia to maintain hope.

“I do not  think that the defeat to Reims will be a problem  for us because everyone is focused on Europe,” said the former Barcelona full-back Maxwell.

“This competition is very important and we will be giving everything to try and win it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2013.