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Lustig, Commons hope for Celtic miracle

"You never know – a penalty, a red card then maybe we're back in the game," shrugged Mikael Lustig as he and Kris Commons looked to take positives from Celtic FC's 3-0 loss.

Lustig, Commons hope for Celtic miracle
Lustig, Commons hope for Celtic miracle ©UEFA.com

A failure to score and an inability to keep them out at the other end summed up the feeling among the Celtic FC players as they reflected on their 3-0 defeat by Juventus in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie. Both Mikael Lustig and Kris Commons said that individual errors cost the Hoops dear on the night and, if not quite mission impossible, they suggested it will take a minor miracle to turn things around in three weeks' time when they visit Turin.

Mikael Lustig, Celtic defender
Three-nil is not a good result but I think we played really well in the first half. We didn't score any and we let in three. However, at 1-0 we were more than a match for them and had a lot of chances but couldn't score. Juventus probably are one of the best teams in the world, so if you let them get chances like that they're going to score.

I don't think Juventus are totally satisfied with their performance either, especially in the first half, but football is about scoring goals. They scored three and we didn't. It's almost mission impossible but miracles have happened in football. You never know – a penalty, a red card then maybe we're back in the game, but it's really tough now.

Kris Commons, Celtic midfielder
I thought in general we were good. We had some good build-up play and possession which got us in good areas. The keeper made some good saves but you get paid for what happens in both boxes and tonight we couldn't quite get a goal and conceded three sloppy goals, which near enough ends our run in the competition. It's hard to put into words when those kind of mistakes are happening at this level. It's frustrating but it was one of those games where individual mistakes cost us the game.

They're a good team but in the first half I think when we put them under pressure they gave the ball away – though in front of goal they were clinical. We won't be going over there thinking the tie is over. We've got a good set of players and our coach won't let us believe this tie is over. If we have a really good night and they play poorly, you get a couple of early goals and you just never know. So we'll be trying to stamp our authority on the game and get an early goal – that would be ideal for us.