Hoops head coach says side now ‘need a miracle’ to progress.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon was hugely critical of the performance of the referee following his side’s 3-0 loss to Juventus in the first leg of their round-of-16 Champions League tie at Celtic Park on Tuesday night.
The home side felt the Spanish official missed a number of clear fouls in the penalty area during the contest.
“I’d like to ask the Italian journalists what they make of the way the Juventus players marked our players,” Lennon said in his post-match press conference.
“It looked to me they were fouling at every opportunity. The referee was warned by our players to keep an eye on it and he ignored our request.
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“And time and time again every time we went to lose our marker we were being hauled back and the referee is looking straight at it. Are the rules different in Spain and Italy because on that showing they must be.
“We need a miracle. We have to try and be competitive and try and work our way into the tie. I said to the players at half time 1-0 we’re fine.
“There’s a long way to go in the second half, but I just felt the heads dropped when the second goal went in and we looked a little bit ragged towards the end.”
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