Celtic v Benfica: Tourists must make themselves at home

Michael Grant

Chief football writer

Wednesday 19 September 2012

B EING a Champions League manager took Neil Lennon into new territory yesterday, just as it will tonight.

Neil Lennon is unlikely to change much from the team that lost to St Johnstone because of a lack of options

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Michael Grant

The inevitable upheaval which comes with staging a major European tie somehow resulted in the Celtic manager having to hold his press briefing in a Parkhead suite never previously used for that purpose. To mild surprise, Lennon revealed he had never set foot in it before. To his pleasure he found it filled with photographs of his younger self and former team-mates contesting the 2003 Uefa Cup final in Seville. He chuckled at an image of his assistant, Johan Mjallby, with much longer hair.

Seville was the end of a journey and tonight is the beginning of one, an opening match against Benfica which will be Lennon's first as a manager in the Champions League proper. He discussed it with varying degrees of boyish enthusiasm, thoughtful anticipation and raw pleasure yesterday, acknowledging the personal significance of the occasion and admitting that he will allow himself a moment or two of reflection amid the bedlam. Lennon has had his trials – being assaulted, sent parcel bombs and assorted other threats, flirting with dismissal when results were poor a year ago – but there is the unmistakable sense that he briefly savour a private sense of achievement. "I will take a moment to enjoy it all. I want to take it all in. In this line of work you don't have time to dwell but I'd like to take a minute to reflect and say I've come a long way in a short space of time. I am going to make the most of it."The Champions League does not indulge tourists or rubberneckers, of course. Celtic and Lennon's understandable excitement will quickly have to be expressed in relentless focus on the job in hand, or else Benfica may be merciless. The Portuguese champions and league leaders took seven points out of nine from their away games in the group stage last season and drew at Old Trafford. Benfica have played only three games this season, all in the league and none at all since September 2, but their one away fixture was a 5-0 rout of Vitoria Setubal. So much for the perception that they do not travel well. They are a formidable opening Group G opponent for Celtic, who then travel to Spartak Moscow before a double-header against Barcelona.The inspirational force of 60,000 fans behind Celtic teams is familiar but, of course, these players have still to prove they can harness it in Europe. It is four years since they played on this stage and only Scott Brown has previous experience of it. The occasion will be stirring but Lennon's task will be to ensure his team plays the match rather than the spectacle. That will mean thwarting a Benfica team which will be determined to draw the crowd's sting by hogging possession.The challenge appeals to Lennon. "It's very exciting now," he said. "I was in a bit of a mood after Saturday [when Celtic lost to St Johnstone] but I don't want to dwell on that. The players are feeling it now and I'm excited for them. It's just fantastic for the supporters and the club to enjoy these type of games again. I said that any repeat performance of Saturday and I would consider dropping players. To be fair, on reflection I've been pretty pleased with them this season. Against St Johnstone we had a bad day. I'm expecting that to be a one-off."Doubtless there was another reason for changing his mind about changing his team: the quality of his replacements. Georgios Samaras, Joe Ledley, Biram Kayal, Efe Ambrose and Paddy McCourt are all injured or not yet match fit, while Lassad is also lacking sharpness. The team will be pretty much as it was in Perth. "It's still a little bit thin for my liking but we'll still be able to put a strong team out," said Lennon. "Although we might have to look at changing the system a little bit."Benfica will come here with an excellent side full of quality players. People say these players will be intimidated [at Parkhead] but they are very experienced players who have played in big games. They'll have played in Portugal or South America or international football. They'll have played in front of this sort of crowd before. Some of them actually enjoy it. The important thing is the crowd gives our own players a huge shot in the arm and can lift them to another level."I don't really want to talk about Benfica, I'd rather talk about my own team. We've done very well to get here and now we want to compete and compete well. I don't want us to be the whipping boys of the group. I don't actually think we will be. I think we might surprise a few people."Benfica have played two previous group games at Parkhead without managing a point or even a goal. There is a feeling that they are better equipped to do so this time and that in Oscar Cardoza, the prolific Paraguayan striker, they have a finisher who will ask questions of Lennon's defenders. Celtic have spent six months licking their lips about the fun and riches of the Champions League. At 7.45pm tonight it must all be replaced by backbreaking hard work.

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Celtic v Benfica: Tourists must make themselves at home

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