Neil Lennon says Celtic will seek ‘clarification’ over Juve ref

The Spanish official came in for widespread criticism of the way he allowed the Serie A side to manhandle Celtic players at times in the penalty area during the first leg of their last 16 tie.

Lennon was seething after the game and ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Premier League game against Dundee United at Parkhead he confirmed that the Scottish champions would be looking for an explanation from European football’s governing body.

He said: “The referee didn’t do his job and there has been a lot of talk since Tuesday night regarding it, so we are looking for clarification on the referee’s decisions during the game.

“We are going to compile a DVD and send it to them (Uefa) and wait and see what answers we do get. It’s a myth that Juventus ‘did their homework.’ That’s rubbish. Juventus defend like that week-in, week-out in Serie A.

"If anything we had done our homework and we made sure the referee was aware of it and he was looking at it time and again and Juventus went unpunished.

“We needed a strong referee and we didn’t have that. It was blatant. I have seen photographs where the shirt was almost pulled off Gary Hooper’s back and he ends up in the goal at one stage.

“I admire Gary for keeping his cool, if it had been me I might have got sent off for something I would have regretted later on.

“Gianluca Vialli (former Juventus skipper) said we should have had two penalties, Graham Poll and Dermot Gallagher (former referees) ... Trevor Francis said that even in his time playing in the ’80s (in Italy) it was never as blatant as what he seen the other night, so these guys can’t all be wrong and the referee right.”