Benfica beat Celtic 4-1 in the Europa League on 2026-10-15, and the contest was effectively gone inside the first 23 minutes. Benfica scored three times before the interval of that opening spell was even over, then took a 3-0 lead into half-time. Celtic never recovered.

Benfica's early burst

The opening spell was the story. Benfica's first three goals arrived inside 23 minutes, which left Celtic chasing the game from the start and turned the rest of the evening into damage limitation.

Celtic did get on the scoresheet, but only once. The final margin was still heavy, and the second-half goal did little to change the basic shape of the game. Jhon Durán scored two for Benfica, while Vangelis Pavlidis added the fourth with a minute to go.

Benfica's wider numbers in the competition were solid too. They now have two wins from two in the Europa League, with six goals scored and only one conceded.

The reaction around Celtic

The reaction was even sharper than the scoreline. Ian Paul Joy said Celtic are now "unrecognisable" and added that they have "lost four of their last five competitive games". Tam McManus was even more direct, calling them "not even competitive in the Europa League now".

Chris Sutton put the mood around the performance in a few words, writing: "That feeling of apathy once again tonight. Nobody surprised by the outcome… Flat track bullies."

Alan Thompson pointed to the half-time state of the game when he said: "3-0 down at half time to Benfica is not good !!" He added that if Celtic win the SPL this season, he would take that as a successful season. That may be an overreaction to one night, but the run is now hard to dress up. In their last three European games, Celtic have conceded 12 goals.

Dean Saunders also said Celtic were "outclassed" and described the passing level as looking like "a Premier League team against a League One team at times". That comparison is only a pundit's view, but the football itself backed up the scale of the gap for long spells.

Celtic's start in Europe is already ugly, and the 1-4 defeat in Benfica vs Celtic has added another heavy line to a poor run. They are back in action with the noise around them only getting louder.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →