Juve give Celtic no leeway

Juventus avoided any slip-ups against Celtic,finishing off the Scottish team with a 2-0 win Wednesday to seal a spot in the Champions League quarterfinals 5-0 on aggregate. Holding a 3-0 lead from the away leg,Juventus withstood early pressure from Celtic before Alessandro Matri clinched the series when he put the Italian side ahead in the 24th minute.

Celtic8217;s best chance came minutes later but Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a one-handed stop to keep out Kris Commons8217; deflected effort. Fabio Quagliarella doubled Juve8217;s lead in the 65th minute by slotting into an empty net from close range after being unselfishly set up by Arturo Vidal. It is the first time Juventus has reached the quarterfinals since it was demoted to Serie B in the 2006 match-fixing scandal.

Juventus extended its unbeaten streak in Europe to 18 matches,having lost just one in its last 30 including qualifying. The Italian club has not conceded a goal in its last five. Juventus rested midfielders Stephan Lichtsteiner and Claudio Marchisio,who were both one booking away from a suspension,while defender Giorgio Chiellini and striker Mirko Vucinic were kept on the bench. Celtic created a lot of pressure in the opening stages but failed to trouble Buffon.

Juventus took the lead just three minutes later. Andrea Barzagli robbed Gary Hooper and raced forward before threading it through for Quagliarella. His effort was parried by the Celtic goalkeeper but Matri was on hand to tap in the rebound.