Paris Saint Germain's Alex (C) duels for the ball against Valencia's Roberto Soldado (R) during their Champions League match in Valencia, Spain, Tuesday. — AP PARIS — Juventus took a huge step toward the Champions League quarterfinals Tuesday by beating Celtic 3-0 away, and although French outfit Paris Saint-Germain also won away, 2-1 at Valencia, it came at a cost. The huge investment made in players by PSG's Qatari owners was paying handsome dividends until a catastrophic final few minutes which saw it concede a goal and then have star Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic rather harshly sent off. The volatile Swede will now miss next month's second leg as a result. It could, therefore, fall upon the shoulders of its latest high-profile signing, David Beckham — who was watching from the stands — to produce some of his old inspiration to see it into the last eight. Things were much more straightforward for Juventus in Glasgow, however. It silenced the raucous home crowd within three minutes as a mistake by Nigerian defender Efe Ambrose — perhaps still felling the effects of his country's Africa Cup of Nations triumph Sunday — let in Alessandro Matri for the opening goal. Further goals late in the second half from Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic ensured there was no repeat of the famous home win over Barcelona in the group stage. Celtic manager Neil Lennon was not happy with the referee, but accepted that his decision to play Ambrose had backfired. “The scoreline flatters Juventus,” he said. “For 70-odd minutes we were by far the better side but you can't give away sloppy goals. “We took a gamble on Efe Ambrose, but he was poor for the first goal and he missed a great chance to equalize. We switched off for the second and third goals.” Juventus coach Antonio Conte was delighted with how his side handled a hostile crowd. PSG looked to be cruising as first-half goals from Argentinian duo Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore gave it a comfortable lead until the mad last two minutes where Valencia's French center-back Adil Rami scored and Ibrahimovic saw red. PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti — who will also be without the increasingly influential young Italian midfielder Marco Verratti for the second leg due to suspension — was not happy with the sending-off decision. “I don't understand the decision,” said the Italian. “He went for the ball at the same time as another player did. It was a forceful tackle but a football tackle. I really don't understand.” UEFA said Wednesday it will consider on Feb. 27 extending Ibrahimovic's suspension. UEFA can extend the one-match sanction if the panel decides the challenge was “assaulting another player.” Ibrahimovic lunged to tackle Andres Guardado and appeared to go over the ball and stamp on the Valencia midfielder's foot. — Agencies
