Apathy- Sutton’s verdict as Benfica hammer Celtic

Chris Sutton referenced the feeling of apathy after Celtic’s 4-1 defeat away to Benfica.

Such is the mood around the club that most fans were expecting a defeat by a couple of goals.

At half-time Celtic trailed 3-0 as supporters watched a re-run of recent big match defeats.

Dane Murray played alongside Auston Trusty for the first time in central defence. In front of them there is a lack of physicality in midfield to dig in and put a barrier in front of the defence.

Benfica scored in the 5th, 23rd and 36th minutes. At 2-0 down Celtic struck the woodwork twice in the same move.

SUTTON HAS VIEWED THIS MOVIE BEFORE

Kasper Hogh and Sebastian Tounekti were replaced at half-time, the most significant change was switching Camilo Duran into the centre of the forward line.

@chris_sutton73 Badly coached! Plain to see but nothing will change. The board are as spineless as the players and management

— Scott Mackay (@Maldoon2007) October 15, 2026

After the break Celtic carried some threat. Haissem Hassan carried the ball confidently down the right. Duran troubled the Benfica defenders.

That combination provided Celtic with their goal in the 63rd minute with a Duran header.

There were chances to make it 3-2 but equally the home side carried a threat when they pushed forward.

In the end Pavlidis scored Benfica’s fourth goal in the 89th minute to take away any silver lining from the trip to Lisbon.

Two years ago Celtic were making a fist of it in the Champions League.

Tonight they are pointless after two Europa League matches, sitting in 34th place out of 36.

Celtic now have home matches against Celta Vigo and Beskitas.

At least one win will be required from those matches to get into contention to progress.

After losing 12 goals in their last three European matches it is clear that work is needed on the Celtic defence if they are to pick up points.

Before Celta arrive Celtic have to take on Hearts in the SPFL Premiership.