Celtic’s Europa League hopes were left hanging by a thread last night after a damaging 4-1 defeat to Benfica in Lisbon, with three first-half defensive lapses proving fatal against Marco Silva’s slick hosts. Jhon Durán scored twice, Alexander Bah added a third, and although Camilo Durán gave Celtic brief hope after the break, Vangelis Pavlidis’ late strike sealed a comprehensive win.
The night began badly for Martin O’Neill’s side after only five minutes. Dane Murray caught the back of Jhon Durán’s leg inside a crowded box, and the former Aston Villa striker confidently chipped home a Panenka penalty.
Benfica doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Sebastian Tounekti switched off, allowing Alexander Bah to volley past Viljami Sinisalo. The third arrived in the 36th minute after a costly mix-up involving Auston Trusty and Sinisalo, with Durán squeezing the ball in from an almost impossible angle to leave Celtic 3-0 down at the interval.
Celtic could easily have changed the shape of the game before Durán’s second. Kasper Høgh struck the post from close range, before Camilo Durán curled the rebound against both the crossbar and the opposite post in an extraordinary passage of play.
Those misses proved pivotal. Instead of returning to 2-1, Celtic found themselves three behind, and Benfica’s clinical edge repeatedly exposed the gap in quality between the sides.
Celtic improved markedly after the interval and pulled one back in the 63rd minute when substitute Haissem Hassan crossed for Camilo Durán, who headed home bravely. Durán, then struck the post from 12 yards as Celtic pushed for a lifeline.
But the Scottish champions could not find a second goal. Benfica substitute Andreas Schjelderup also hit the woodwork, before Pavlidis ended any lingering hope of a Celtic fight back in the 89th minute with a clinical finish from the edge of the box.
Despite the scoreline, O’Neill was encouraged by Celtic’s response after the break. “We could have capitulated but I thought the second half performance was really terrific,” he told TNT Sports, insisting his side created “chance after chance” and that qualification remains possible with six games still to play.
Celtic remain pointless from their opening two Europa League league-phase matches, and the defeat extends a worrying run of four losses in their last five fixtures in all competitions. Up next for Celtic are Hearts in the league at the weekend, before playing host to Celta Vigo next week.