Group F
Benfica coach Fernando Santos is confident his side’s long goal drought will come to an end in their crucial match against Celtic.
With just one point so far, Benfica need a win tonight to revive their fading qualification hopes.
“For the past four or five matches, we have been playing good attacking football and scoring a lot of goals,” said Santos, has seen his side fail to score in their last three Champions League games.
Santos hopes to welcome back striker Fabrizio Miccoli following a throat infection to partner Nuno Gomes.
“I know we’ve not yet scored a goal in the competition, but the way the team have been attacking means I am relaxed.”
“We must be very determined and stay really concentrated if we’re going to get over this difficult hurdle. Celtic are a very strong team when they’re leading and we cannot make that mistake again.”
Despite successive victories in the competition, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan warns that there is plenty of work to be done.
“We’ve had a couple of good performances but now we’ve put ourselves on a level where there is more pressure,” he said. “Hopefully the players can handle these next three games as well as the first three.”
Strachan is hopeful that Paul Telfer will overcome a minor foot injury to continue at right-back.
It was in Lisbon that Celtic became the first British winners of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1967. Twelve members of that ‘Lisbon Lions’ team have travelled to the city hoping to see the club claim a place in the knockout phase for the first time.
“We are delighted the ‘Lisbon Lions’ are here and hopefully we can give the older players something to be proud about and give the fans some new memories,” said Strachan.
Probable teams
Benfica:
Quim; Nélson, Luisão, Ricardo Rocha, Léo; Petit, Konstantinos Katsouranis, Nuno Assis, Simão; Fabrizio Miccoli, Nuno Gomes.
Celtic:
Artur Boruc; Paul Telfer, Gary Caldwell, Stephen McManus, Lee Naylor; Shunsuke Nakamura, Evander Sno, Neil Lennon, Aiden McGeady; Shaun Maloney, Kenny Miller.
