Sutton delivers but it's heartache for Celtic

Celtic were immense against Juventus last night but even a magnificent victory fell short of what was required.

Despite arguably the best British performance in the Champions League this year, Martin O'Neill's side find themselves relegated to the UEFA Cup while all their English counterparts look ahead to the second phase draw.

As they took the applause of the 60,000-plus crowd inside Parkhead, the home side were unaware that Porto had beaten Rosenborg 1-0 and pipped them for second place in Group E. When the news filtered through the tumult quickly turned to silence, though the players were so drained that their reaction was barely visible.

There was some measure of revenge for the 3-2 defeat suffered on the competition's opening day in Turin when Nicola Amoruso dived in the final minute to gain the penalty from which Juve won that match. Celtic's ambition was higher than the mere settling of old scores, though no-one could have predicted that this game would provide so much drama and entertainment.

After Alessandro Del Piero converted a superb free-kick in the 19th minute, home heads dropped.

Celtic veteran Lubomir Moravcik, however, was having none of it. Almost immediately he was foiled by Fabian Carini before turning Michele Paramatti inside out to cross for Joos Valgaeren to head an equaliser.

Then, on half-time, Moravcik's corner picked out Chris Sutton and the striker's powerful header was unstoppable.

Juventus coach Marcello Lippi introduced David Trezeguet at half-time and just minutes into the second half the Frenchman struck, finishing superbly after a perfect Amoruso pass. Juventus could never relax, though, and the experienced Mark Iuliano could only counter the enthusiasm and strength of Sutton by wrestling the English striker to the ground.