Fifteen years ago today Chris Sutton was creating Champions League headlines on the park rather than on air, in print and online.
In one of the best Champions League matches ever seen at Celtic Park the hoops beat Juventus 4-3 with Sutton at the heart of the action on the pitch.
The win ultimately turned out to be academic with Porto beating Rosenborg the same night to deny Martin O’Neill’s side a place in the knock out phase despite picking up nine points from their first ever campaign in the premium event.
.@btsportfootball great night ??great memories??And more Celtic mixing it in CL tomorrow live on BT?????????? https://t.co/O1pADysPyz
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) October 31, 2016
The big disappointment in the group had been a 2-0 defeat away to a Harald Brattbakk inspired Rosenborg that took qualification outside Celtic’s hands having shared the points with Juventus and Porto.
Juventus arrived in Glasgow having already qualified for the knock out phase with a side that included Alessandro Del Piero and Pavel Nedved with David Trezeguet on the bench alongside Gigi Buffon.
Del Piero gave Juve the lead in the 19th minute but before the break Joos Valgaeren and Sutton had put Celtic in front.
Trezeguet came off the bench to level the scores but some all in wrestling on Sutton at a corner gave Henrik Larsson the chance to put Celtic 3-2 in front which he dispatched.
Sutton then put Celtic further in front but Trezeguet pulled a goal back in the 77th minute to ensure that Celtic had to sweat their way through the closing minutes while hoping for a Brattbakk inspired comeback from Rosenborg.
At the end of the night it was a famous win for Celtic but not good enough to progress in the competition with more cruelty to follow in the UEFA Cup when they lost out on penalties to Valencia.
