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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Mark Walker

Manager of Celtic's Europa League opponents claims they can go all the way

Benfica manager Marco Silva (Image: Steve Welsh)

Benfica boss Marco Silva has issued an ominous warning ahead of Celtic's next Europa League showdown by insisting they can go all the way and win the competition.

Celtic crashed to a shock defeat to Ferencvaros in their opening game of the league phase this week at Parkhead.

Next up, is a daunting trip to face Benfica at the Estadio da Luz after the international break in their second game.

The Lisbon giants have already crushed Hearts 6-1 there this season and cruised to a 2-0 win at the San Siro this week to record their first-ever win against AC Milan, despite making nine changes to their side from their previous league game.

Benfica have won eight games in a row and scored 27 goals in that time, while conceding just four.

And Silva has demanded they don't ease up.


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He said: "Beating AC Milan in Italy isn't easy and I am delighted because it was our first-ever win against such a huge club.

"I don't want to say we are favourites for the Europa League or anything, but when I came here I said that a club like Benfica will always be mentioned as winning it because of our size.

"We will always try to play to win and want to go as far as possible in the competition and reach the final at least.

"But let me make it clear that there are many great teams in this competition as well.

"What really pleased me was we were able to bring in so many new players who I thought would be tired, but they did a great job too."

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