Well that was a truly miserable European night for Celtic wasn't it? We all knew it was going to be a difficult night in Lisbon and, well, when referee Nikola Dabanović pointed to the spot inside four minutes, penalising Oliver Sørensen for a foul, that rather set the tone.
Jhon Durán rather miscued his attempted Panekna, but still beat Viljami Sinisalo and, by half time, Benfica led 3-0, with Alexander Bah volleying home the second, before Durán added a third, slotting through Sinisalo's legs.
On a night of Duráns, Camilo headed Celtic back into the game, connecting with substitute Haissem Hassan's cross. Nevertheless, this never looked likely to spark a full-scale comeback, and Vangelis Pavlidis' strike in the final minute of the 90 extinguished all hope.
So, here are three things we learned from a pretty disastrous night in Lisbon.
Celtic are nowhere near Champions League level
Had it not been for, well, whatever happened that night in Linz, Celtic would have been playing Liverpool in the Champions League this week. LASK also have Real Madrid at the Bernabéu on their schedule; very much here's what you could have won! However, Thursday night crystallised that the Hoops do not deserve to be at Europe's top table.
Benfica are one of the favourites to win the Europa League, having beaten A.C. Milan 2-0 at San Siro on matchday one. Had the Primeira Liga not dropped below the Eredivisie in the UEFA Coefficient Ranking table, last year's third-place finish would have been enough to see the Eagles there once again. Thus, Marco Silva are a Champions League-level outfit, while Celtic very much proved they are far from being so too.
Celtic are yet to get the best out of Kasper Høgh
Having arrived for £11 million, scoring 54 goals in just over 100 appearances for previous club Bodø/Glimt, Kasper Høgh arrived with sky-high expectations. Following his hat-trick at Kilmarnock on 9 August, if someone had said he would not score again for over two months, and counting, you certainly would not have believed them.
However, the Dane is now nine appearances without a goal, hooked at half time at Estádio da Luz, with Camilo Durán moved central and Haissem Hassan introduced. The Colombian offered far more than Høgh did as the number nine, as did Callum Osmand, who was exponentially more dangerous after his introduction. Right now, the Danish international cannot continue to be considered first-choice.
Cameron Carter-Vickers is a massive miss
As early as when the team sheets dropped, fans were right to be worried about Celtic's back line. There remain question marks around Auston Trusty, while Colby Donovan is a promising player, if very raw, but Dane Murray starting such a difficult game was never going to inspire confidence.
Martin O'Neill remains without both Alistair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers, which is the entire right side of his defence decimated. The Canadian is a more long-term absentee, but the American's injury came a bit out of nowhere last weekend and is a major blow. With games against Hearts, Celta Vigo and then Hibernian coming up, the Celts need Carter-Vickers back as quickly as possible.
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