Juventus and PSG have joined Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in the quarter finals, with half of the field now completed. There would be no miracle comeback for Celtic in Italy and a 5-0 aggregate scoreline is possibly a bit harsh form. Much like Shakhtar Donetsk, the Scots will be wondering how they didn't score in the second leg. There was no European début for David Beckham so he was made to sit watch his PSG side draw 1-1 at home to Valencia, a result that squeezes the French giants in to the next round by a 3-2 aggregate victory.
The only thing that missing from Celtic's performance inside the Delle Alpi was their finishing. Gianluigi Buffon was also in very good form to help prevent the likes of Gary Hooper and Georgios Samaras from reducing the deficit. Celtic's hearts were ultimately broken on 24-minutes when Juventus attacked following Joe Ledley's agonising miss across goal. Federico Peluso fed Fabio Quagliarella in but the striker's shot was parried away by Fraser Forster. Unfortunately the ball only went in front of the keeper and not very far away, Alessandro Matri was then on hand to poke the ball home and virtually seal Juve's progression after 24-minutes.
Despite being 4-0 down on aggregate, Celtic continued to fight and show their heart. Buffon was again called in to action. Celtic's best chance to level in the first half came ten minutes before the whistle when Samaras found space in the box. The Greek flashed the ball across the goal line and if Gary Hooper was a couple of inches taller, he would have slid the ball home.
The second half saw Kris Commons become the latest Bhoy to test Buffon but the Italian keeper just wasn't going to be beaten. On 65-minutes, the second leg was also out of Celtic's reach when Juventus showed their class and, more crucially, a killer finishing touch. Andrea Pirlo expertly found Matri in behind the defence, Matri then played the ball across for Quagliarella to tap home his fourth of the competition.
The passage in to the quarter finals wasn't as straightforward for PSG who were really made to sweat in the Parc Des Princes. The French side came in to the second leg with a 2-1 lead after beating Valencia in the Mestalla.
The nerves would have began ten minutes in to the second half when Jonas let rip from 25-yards and his effort beat Salvatore Sirugu in to the corner, his fifth of the competition. This did level the aggregate score, but it didn't actually chance the match as PSG would still progress at this stage on away goals.
But Valencia's lead would only last 11-minutes. Substitute Kevin Gameiro barged his way in to the box before the ball fell to Ezequiel Lavezzi. The Argentine's first effort was initially parried by the keeper, but Lavezzi made no mistake with the second attempt and did score his fifth goal of the tournament to definitely confirm PSG's first appearance in the quarter finals for 18-years.
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