Benfica handed Celtic a 4-1 defeat at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon on October 15, 2026, deepening the Scottish side’s troubles in the Europa League group stages. The loss came after a 3-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros, leaving Celtic third from bottom in the group with slim chances of progressing.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill remained optimistic despite the scoreline, pointing to his team’s second-half display as a reason for hope. “I thought the second-half performance was really terrific, as you say, a game of two halves,” O’Neill said. “We created chance after chance; we should have scored more goals, and of course, you’re going to leave yourself a bit open at the end. But I tell you, the second-half performance gives me what I would call the determination, I think, to, and I think we can still qualify. We can still do it.”
The match’s early moments proved costly for Celtic. O’Neill expressed frustration over defensive lapses that led to Benfica’s goals, especially after a missed chance to pull one back when the score was 2-0. “One is just a little dinking cross and we’re coming out instead of defending it properly, and that’s really poor from our viewpoint. You can’t afford to do that. I don’t think you can afford to do that in any game, never mind a game of this magnitude,” the Irishman added.
Substitutions brought some spark to Celtic’s attack. O’Neill praised Haissem Hassan and Callum Osmand, who came on in the second half and unsettled Benfica’s defence. “It changed because two wide players wanted to get at people, really did want to get at people. Hassan has that ability to do this here, and little Osmand, who’s just back from injury, hasn’t played really wide there at all,” he said. The manager noted Osmand’s encouraging performance, saying he “did terrifically well” and could have provided an assist to Camilo Duran to reduce the deficit late on.
Despite the heavy defeat, Celtic’s response after the break gave O’Neill some positivity ahead of upcoming fixtures. “Absolutely, we’ll take that. Yes, second-half performance I will definitely take,” he confirmed.
The match at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz was difficult for Celtic supporters, who face an uphill battle to secure Europa League qualification after two successive losses. Yet O’Neill’s focus remains on the potential demonstrated in the latter stages of the game as the team looks to regroup for the remaining group matches.
According to Yahoo Sports.