Benfica still strong despite sales, says Neil Lennon

By LISA GRAY
Published on 06/09/2012 04:30

Celtic manager Neil Lennon will not underestimate Champions League opponents Benfica despite the Portuguese club 
losing two of their top stars to big-money moves.

Celtic’s chances of beating Benfica in their Group G opener at Parkhead later this month looked to have increased after midfielder Axel Witsel joined Russian side Zenit St Petersburg in a transfer reportedly worth £32million while Javi Garcia completed his transfer to Manchester City for a reported fee of £16m.

However, Lennon, whose side also face Barcelona and Spartak Moscow in the battle to reach the knockout stages of the competition, remains wary of the Eagles. He said: “They still have a very strong squad. They may be weakened but they are still a formidable opponent.

“We are going to take one step at a time so our focus will be Benfica. We had them watched at the weekend because they are our first opponents and they won 3-0 against Nacional at home. We might try to get another look at them before we play them.

“We are at home and would really like to win that game and if we could get off to a good start it would really set the rest of the campaign up very nicely.”

Lennon will cross his fingers and hope those players who are away on international duty come back unscathed.

He will watch with interest as Scotland begin their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign this weekend with a home game against Serbia, followed by the visit of Macedonia on Tuesday night.

The Northern Irishman said: “I think they need to get off to a good start and Serbia, even though they are going through a transitional period, will be pretty difficult opponents.”