Benfica made it six wins in a row ahead of their Champions League showdown with Celtic when they won 2-0 away to Moreinense in the Cup of Portugal on Friday night.
Two second half goals from Nemanja Matic and Oscar Cardoza gave Benfica the victory and maintained their unbeaten domestic record with the added bonus of the return from suspension of Luisao.
The Brazilian defender was hit with a two month FIFA ban for striking a referee in pre-season missing out on the first four matches of the Champions League campaign.
After back-to-back clashes with Barcelona Neil Lennon is expecting the clash with Benfica to be every bit as tough as the games against the Catalan masters.
“It is going to be just as difficult as the Barcelona game,” the Celtic boss warned. “Benfica are going to be so motivated.
“It was a bonus beating Barca and now they still need points to qualify, which should hopefully work in our favour. People will maybe respect us a bit more now but I don’t think any team would have taken us lightly anyway.
“However, Benfica will be desperate to win. They will be on the front foot and we will need to start well. But the players have shown a great mentality for these games and they are burning to qualify.
“We will need to play very strongly. If we can get a score draw and Barca get a result we are there but I’m not contemplating that yet.”
Before the Benfica-Celtic game kicks off the result will be known of the Spartak Moscow v Barcelona match.
Spartak drew 1-1 away to Volga yesterday while Barcelona won 3-1 at home to Real Zaragoza with Lionel Messi scoring twice and assisting Alex Song with the other goal.
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