"Listen, it doesn’t get much more difficult in the Europa League than this next one. Benfica away is a tough, tough game," Liam Scales said before Celtic's trip to Benfica. He still pointed to last season's 3-1 away win at Feyenoord as the standard Celtic should try to hit again on Thursday, 15 October 2026. Celtic are still looking for their first points in the UEFA Europa League after losing 1-3 at home to Ferencvaros.

Celtic's European reference point

Scales did not try to soften the challenge. Benfica are 7th in the Europa League table with 3 points from 1 match, while Celtic sit 28th with 0 points from 1 match. That gap does not decide anything in Lisbon on its own, but it does explain why the defender keeps coming back to Rotterdam as the model.

"But we went to Feyenoord last season and showed that night what we can do so we can try and replicate how we played in that game," he said. Scales added: "When it comes to European fixtures that is a reference for us." Celtic won 3-1 there, and that is the performance he wants them to remember more than the home defeat to Ferencvaros.

The response after the break

The Motherwell win gave Celtic something firmer to point to before Europe. They beat Motherwell 2-0 on Sunday with goals from Camilo Duran and Benjamin Nygren, and Scales said the squad came back from the international break with a different edge.

"We all got back in last week and had a meeting. We went through all our principles and how we want to be," he said. "I feel players went away and enjoyed their couple of weeks and have come back with more confidence. I felt that was noticeable on Sunday."

That can still be read two ways. It may be the start of a reset, or it may just be a lift after three straight defeats. Scales is not claiming more than that, and the Benfica trip will tell Celtic a lot more than the Motherwell result did.

The key point is still the same one he made himself: Celtic have already shown they can produce that kind of away performance, and they will try to do it again at Benfica vs Celtic on Thursday.

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