Martin O’Neill remains hopeful of qualification, and praises Celtic duo…
Not one Celtic supporter will be feeling confident of the side making strides in Europe this year after a second successive loss in the Europa group stages after a 4-1 thumping from Benfica in Lisbon last night.
October 15, 2026, Lisbon, Portugal: Benfica and Celtic players seen during the UEFA Europa League match between Benfica and Celtic at Estadio da Luz. Final score Benfica 4:1 Celtic Lisbon Portugal – Photo Nuno Branco IMAGO
That loss along with the 3-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros leaves us third bottom of the standings, and little hope of making it through to the latter stages.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill however, has came out fighting and is adamant his side can still make an impression in Europe’s secondary competition, pointing to the players second half performance as a factor in his belief.
He said: “I thought the second-half performance was really terrific, as you say, a game of two halves.
“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.”
Callum McGregor of Celtic Benfica v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal – 15 Oct 2026Lisbon Estadio da Luz Portugal Photo Javier Garcia/Shutterstock
Martin was frustrated with the manner of Celtic’s early concessions, especially after a missed opportunity to reduce the deficit at 2-0.
He added: “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 was pleased with the performances of substitutes Haissem Hassan and Callum Osmand, and the direction of their approach, which caused Benfica problems.
“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.
Camilo Duran of Celtic FC looks on during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD2 match between SL Benfica vs Celtic FC at Estádio do Lisboa e Benfica on October 15th,2026 Photo by Joao Bravo/Sports IMAGO
“I thought he did terrifically well. Maybe he could have squared one for Duran to maybe make it 3-2 in the game. That would have been really interesting in the last 15 minutes of the match.
“So that gave the rest of the team a bit of impetus.”
Despite another damaging European defeat, Martin believes the second half performance can encourage his side in the next round of fixtures.
Asked whether he would take encouragement from it, he replied: “Absolutely, we’ll take that.
“Yes, second-half performance I will definitely take.”
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Celtic in the Fifties by Matt Corr, in two volumes, both published on 4th September 2026 by Celtic Star Books. Click on image to order.
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