Brutal Juventus strike as Celtic run out of steam

Champions League last 16, first leg: Celtic 0-3 Juventus

Football can be ruthless. Celtic played with spirit and considerable effort yet were comprehensively beaten by Juventus, whose three away goals render the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie all but meaningless.

To an outsider it would have looked like daylight robbery, but the truth is that Juventus were merely professional and executed their game plan to perfection. 

A third minute goal from Alessandro Matri meant Celtic were always on the back foot and forced to chase the match, which they attempted commendably. Celtic responded to the early set-back in a positive manner by restricting Juventus's time on the ball with intense pressing and closing down. 

This proved to be a high risk tactic. For much of the game it looked as if Celtic's moment would eventually present itself, but Juventus are an incredibly fit side who rarely fail to end their matches in the ascendancy. 

When Celtic inevitably began to tire at the latter stages of the game, they were picked apart. Juventus had conserved their energy and unleashed it when fatigue was starting to set in for Celtic, who reaped no rewards for all their hard work.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon described the defeat as a "harsh reality" but said "some of the young players will learn a lesson from it". This lesson applies to all of Europe: beware of Juventus, innocuous at times, and deadly at others. 

On Monday evening West Brom pulled off the ultimate snatch and grab when they defeated Liverpool 2-0, despite only taking four shots all game in comparison to Liverpool's 23. Juve may have done the same to Celtic tonight, but make no mistake, it was fully intentional. 

New look Chelsea missing their old guard

This was about as poor a performance from a defending European Champion side as one could wish to see. Juventus swept aside Chelsea, who were fragile as glass in defence and played for 71 minutes without a striker.

Yet it was not the same team that brought them the European Cup. Chelsea were unfortunate to be missing John Terry and Frank Lampard through injury but their failure to replace Didier Drogba is a consequence of their demanding chairman's desire to see his team play attractive football.

Roman Abramovic poured huge sums of money into acquiring the hottest, most exotic attacking midfielders, and neglected the forward department. He led Chelsea into the 2012/13 season with just two strikers: an out of sorts Fernando Torres and rough around the edges Daniel Sturridge.

The lack of faith in Torres was handed a spotlight against Juventus, the £50m man who has returned 11 goals from 58 league starts, as Chelsea fielded six midfielders at his expense.

It felt forced. Light years away from emulating Spain's masterclass in the Euro 2012 final. 

Their opposition, Juventus, also suffer from a case of non-scoring strikers. The difference, though, is Juve are willing to play theirs. While Mirko Vučinić may not be clinical, he drops into midfield and links their play well. Importantly, they are a complete team. 

This was a walk in the park for Juventus as, for all their newfound flair, Chelsea are missing the spine of the team that won them the Champions League.

Chelsea must now win against Nordsjaelland and rely on Shakhtar Donetsk to beat Juventus if they are to avoid becoming the first European Champions to exit at the group stage. It would be an embarrassing outcome for one of the competition's most successful sides of the past decade.