Lisbon Lesson! Rampant Benfica Run Riot As Celtic Crumble

Lisbon was a lesson. Celtic were taken apart by Benfica and lost 4-1 in the Europa League on Thursday 15 October.

It was 3-0 at half-time. The game was over long before the end.

A nightmare start

It went wrong inside five minutes. Dane Murray brought down Jhon Durán in the box. The Colombian scored the penalty himself.

On 23 minutes Alexander Bah ran clear and doubled the lead. Durán struck again before the break. Celtic had chances of their own, but Benfica were ruthless.

Durán's brave reply

There was one bright spot. Camilo Durán had stayed in Glasgow for the birth of his second child and joined the squad late. On 63 minutes he headed in from Haissem Hassan's cross.

It did not spark a comeback. Substitute Vangelis Pavlidis fired in a fourth on 89 minutes.

The fallout

The criticism was savage. Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton posted on X: "That feeling of apathy once again tonight. Nobody surprised by the outcome... Flat-track bullies."

O'Neill stayed defiant. He told the BBC that Durán's "strongest position is through the middle" and that "It's a real battle for places now."

The verdict

Celtic can bully most teams in Scotland. In the big games they keep coming up short. Benfica showed the gap between Celtic and Europe's best is still huge.