Celtic's Europa League campaign went from bad to worse in Lisbon on Thursday night, as a Jhon Duran-inspired Benfica raced into a three-goal half-time lead and finished comfortable 4-1 winners at the Estadio da Luz.
Martin O'Neill's side were undone by their own defensive errors long before they found any rhythm. By the time the visitors settled, the game had effectively gone, and a second defeat from two league-phase matches leaves the Scottish champions with serious work to do.
A Nightmare First Half For Celtic
The tone was set inside five minutes. Dane Murray caught the back of Duran's leg inside a crowded penalty area, and the Colombian striker calmly chipped the resulting penalty down the middle, Panenka style, with Viljami Sinisalo already committed to his left.
Celtic did respond with brief pressure, and Anatoliy Trubin had to make smart saves from Kasper Hogh and Mika Baur. But the respite did not last. In the 23rd minute Gianluca Prestianni, who tormented Celtic down the left all evening, crossed to the far post where Alexander Bah had escaped Sebastian Tounekti and sidefooted home from close range.
Worse followed on 36 minutes. Auston Trusty and Sinisalo got themselves in a tangle at the back and Duran pounced, squeezing in his second of the night from an angle that should have been impossible. As the Glasgow Times put it in its report of the evening, clinical Benfica were simply too hot to handle for the Hoops in a first half that could easily have produced more goals.
Camilo Duran Offers Brief Hope
To their credit, Celtic improved markedly after the break. Their goal arrived in the 63rd minute through Camilo Duran, who had travelled to Portugal separately after staying in Glasgow for the birth of his second child, and who marked an emotional few days with a brave header to make it 3-1.
Duran also struck a post as Celtic chased an unlikely route back into the game, and O'Neill took encouragement from the second-half response afterwards, pointing to the fight his side showed once the contest was already slipping away. But the comeback never truly materialised, and substitute Vangelis Pavlidis settled matters in the 89th minute, firing in Benfica's fourth to complete a scoreline that, on the balance of the first half, did not flatter the hosts.
The result means Benfica have won both of their opening fixtures, following the 2-0 win at Milan on matchday one, while Celtic sit pointless after also losing 3-1 at home to Ferencvaros. The full set of league-phase results is available via UEFA.
So What Does It Mean?
For Benfica and Marco Silva, this is a statement start. Six points from two games, with a trip to Omonia next on 22 October, puts the Eagles firmly on course for the knockout rounds and marks them out as one of the Europa League's teams to beat. Prestianni, with two assists and a hand in almost everything, is fast becoming one of the stories of the competition.
For Celtic the picture is bleaker. They have now lost four of their last five in all competitions, and the defensive frailty on show in Lisbon is becoming a pattern rather than a one-off. Hearts visit Parkhead in the Premiership on Sunday, and after that comes a home European date with Celta Vigo — beaten late by Juventus in the Celta report elsewhere on this site — that already carries the feel of a must-win. Fail there too, and Celtic's European season could be as good as over before November.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Milan's teenage hat-trick hero lit up Salzburg in a 4-0 win covered in our Milan report, underlining just how strong the top of this league phase is shaping up to be.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Celtic were not beaten by Benfica's brilliance so much as by their own mistakes — a needless penalty, a switched-off full-back and a goalkeeping mix-up, all inside 36 minutes. O'Neill can point to the second-half fight, but at this level you do not get marks for rallying from 3-0 down. Unless Celtic fix the errors at the back, their Europa League campaign will be over almost before it has begun.
Can Celtic still rescue their European season from here? Have your say in the comments.
