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Pirlo’s Milan nightmare cautions Juve

Sport
MILAN — Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo could be forgiven for having the 2005 Champions League final on his mind when the Italian side take a 3-0 advantage into their last-16 second-leg clash against Celtic today.

MILAN — Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo could be forgiven for having the 2005 Champions League final on his mind when the Italian side take a 3-0 advantage into their last-16 second-leg clash against Celtic today.

— Reuters

Pirlo was in the shell-shocked AC Milan team who blew a 3-0 halftime lead against Liverpool before losing on penalties in one of the most astonishing European finals in history. Celtic, beaten 3-0 at home, need to end Juve’s 17-match unbeaten European run and rewrite the Champions League record books when they visit the Italian champions, but Pirlo, a 2006 World Cup winner with Italy, has seen it all.

“I’ve been in football long enough to know miracles happen. I can still remember the Champions League final against Liverpool,” the 33-year-old told Scottish paper the Daily Record after the first leg.

“Liverpool scored three goals in just a half, whereas Celtic have a whole game. It would be dangerous to consider that the tie is won yet.”

The Scottish team could get inspiration from South America’s Libertadores Cup where Mexican side America pulled off a remarkable win against Brazil’s Flamengo at the Maracana Stadium five years ago.

Trailing 4-2 from the home leg, the Mexicans silenced the famous arena with a 3-0 win regarded as one of the greatest humiliations in Flamengo’s history.

A quick look at Uefa statistics, however, highlights the immensity of the task facing Celtic at the Juventus Stadium.

Only two teams have come back from losing the first leg at home to win a tie in the knockout stages of the Champions League since the competition started 21 years ago. Inter Milan did it two seasons ago, when they lost 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich, but won 3-2 away to go through on away goals, and Ajax pulled off a similar fightback against Panathinaikos back in 1995-1996.