Benfica have suffered a double injury blow that could offer Celtic some hope ahead of next week's Europa League clash in Lisbon. The Bhoys are in for a tough old time of it in the Portuguese capital, especially after losing to Ferencvaros in their home opener in the competition.
The thought of Celtic going to Lisbon and pulling off a win against a side that went all of last season unbeaten in the league and beat Real Madrid Champions League seems out of the question.
Now, football is funny like that, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Celtic can pull off a famous win in Lisbon, but almost every fan will agree it is unlikely, especially with what we have seen from Celtic against good or even decent teams this season.
But there is some hope, with Benfica now suffering two significant injury blows during the international break. Jakub Kaminski is the first of those, suffering a muscular injury 24 minutes into his National League clash against Bosnia and Herzegovina for Poland.
The €17million summer arrival will almost certainly be out for a few weeks at best. Elsewhere, Heorhiy Sudakov suffered an ankle injury during Ukraine's defeat to Northern Ireland in the Nations League.
Ankle injuries are very unpredictable, and the best we can say is that he will be a major doubt for the clash with Celtic. Sudakov is a €20.25million player, which should say something about the quality of the likely absentee.
Celtic have some injury concerns of their own, with Yang Hyun-jun hoping to shake off a hamstring issue, while the likes of Alistair Johnston and Callum Osmand are on their way back but are unlikely to be ready to face the Portuguese club.
Still, the Hoops will take all the help they can get as they look to avoid back-to-back defeats to start their Europa League campaign.
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