Celtic have been warned that Benfica boss Marco Silva won't take it easy on them despite talk of using younger players on Thursday night.
The Bhoys face a huge test against Benfica on Thursday night in their second Europa League fixture of the campaign. The Hoops lost at home to Ferencvaros in their first game, and they already have ground to make up.
But making up that ground in Lisbon will be particularly difficult. Benfica beat AC Milan in their first game, and it's clear they have the calibre of squad that could compete well in the Champions League.
Anything Celtic can bring home from Lisbon would be a huge boost in their bid to qualify for the next stage of this competition, and there has been talk from Benfica boss Silva about rotating his squad amid a large workload for his side.
But according to former Celtic star Peter Grant, Silva won't really be considering making changes to his team for this game.
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, Grant said: “I don’t think so in respect of I’ve seen all these managers say that many times and I know Marco Silva, because obviously he was at Fulham.
“So I know the way he plays. I know the way his teams play. Please believe me, he puts out a team there to win. That will be the old one, ‘yeah we’re playing a weaker team’, it doesn’t matter.”
Benfica will have big ambitions for this competition, seen as one of the teams that could go on to win it, so they will be racing to try to finish in the top eight and to avoid the playoff round.
Benfica come into this one after winning 3-0 against Vitoria over the weekend, and as everm there will be an intense atmosphere at the Estadio da Luz.
Celtic have struggled against the better teams they have faced this summer, and they are going to have to produce their best performance of the season to have any chance of grabbing a point or three on Thursday night.
They are not likely to get any favours from their hosts.
