Benfica to host Celtic at Estádio da Luz in UEFA Europa League on October 15

SL Benfica will meet Celtic FC at the Estádio da Luz on October 15 in their second league phase fixture of the UEFA Europa League 2026-27. The match follows Benfica’s opening 2-0 victory over AC Milan and Celtic’s 1-3 defeat by Ferencváros in the competition.

Benfica arrive with four wins in their last five matches under Marco Silva and will play at home, a factor the club expects to use to its advantage. In their first Europa League game Benfica did not dominate possession but were effective in attack and converted the chances that mattered. Celtic, managed by Martin O’Neill, returned to winning ways domestically with a 2-0 win over Motherwell but will be seeking a response after their UEL loss.

Vangelis Pavlidis, 27, is set to start for Benfica as the lone striker after featuring for only 10 minutes in the team’s previous Europa League outing. Benjamin Nygren has been cited as a consistent performer for Celtic and is expected to be important in the final third for the visitors.

Benfica will be without Jakub Kaminski and Enzo Barrenechea through injury, while Celtic are missing Cameron Carter-Vickers, Yang Hyun-Jun, Callum Osmand and Alistair Johnson. The projected Benfica lineup is: Soares (GK); Bah, Circati, Arujo, Dahl; Barreiro, Palhinha; Silva, Prestianni, Schjelderup; Pavlidis. The projected Celtic lineup is: Sinisalo (GK); Donovan, Murray, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Baur; Duran, Nygren, Tounekti; Hogh.

The preview from Khel Now assesses Benfica as holding a slight edge because of squad quality and home advantage, forecasting that Benfica are likely to secure the three points while describing Celtic’s chances of a positive result as limited.

The fixture is scheduled for October 15 at the Estádio da Luz; viewers in India can watch on Sony Sports Network and stream via SonyLIV.