Juventus took a giant step towards the quarterfinals of the European Champions League following a crushing 3-0 win over Celtic.

Alesandro Matri's early strike and further goals from Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic completed a perfect night's work for the Italian champions.

There was also success for Paris Saint-Germain, which claimed a 2-1 away win at Valencia, although it must do without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the second leg after he was shown a straight red card.

Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore had given the French club a two goal lead at the break, but Adil Rami's late strike and Ibrahimovic's dismissal means its all to play for in the French capital in three weeks time.

Lisbon Lions

While PSG might still have to sweat, no such problems are expected for Serie A leaders and two-time European Cup winners Juventus.

Dressed in all black and surrounded by the cauldron of Celtic Park, Juventus headed out to face one of the most intimidating atmospheres in European football.

With the majority of the 57,917 crowd clad in green and white bellowing out their support for the Scottish champion, it was clear that this night was something special.

Back in the knockout phase for the first time in five years, Celtic was dreaming of the glory days when it ruled the continent following its legendary cup final win of 1967.

The victory over the might of Inter Milan in Lisbon, led to the team, which was to become known as the 'Lisbon Lions', becoming the first non-Latin side to win the trophy.

Managed by the legendary Jock Stein, all of the players were born within a 30 mile radius of Glasgow.

On May 24 1967, Lisbon was overrun with the green and white of Celtic and not that of local club Sporting.

Goals from Tommy Gemmel and Stevie Chalmers secured victory over an Inter side which had won three of the four past editions of the competition.

"There is not a prouder man on God's Earth than me at this moment," said Stein following the triumph.

"Winning was important, but it was the way that we won that has filled me with satisfaction.

"We did it by playing football; pure, beautiful, inventive football. There was not a negative thought in our heads."

That night in Lisbon is never far from memory whenever the words 'Europe' and 'Celtic' are mentioned in the same breath. They are synonomous.

The success of the past generation is a reminder of how Celtic became the first British club to win the competition, a fact which supporters are quick to point out at every opportunity.

But while it has dominated domestically in recent years, helped by the downfall of fierce rival Glasgow Rangers, success in Europe has been more difficult to achieve.

Not since it lost to Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup final had Celtic hit the European headlines, that was until this year and its shock victory over Barcelona.

A 2-1 home win against the La Liga champions helped Neil Lennon's side qualify for the last-16 and a meeting with Juventus.

While the visitor appeared favorite on paper, Celtic's home form in the Champions League has been nothing short of remarkable.

In its 23 matches before welcoming Juventus, Celtic had suffered just two defeats, while winning 15 and drawing six.

With the second leg in Turin on March 6 to come, the home side would have hoped to secure a result in a bid to keep the tie alive.

The atmosphere suggested a gladiatorial arena, the bloodcurdling noise of Celtic Park rose as the players emerged. This was Celtic's time.