The Portuguese giants secured a comfortable victory. TalkSPORT pundit Dean Saunders criticised the disparity between the teams, while Celtic-supporting host Alan Brazil confessed he couldn't bear to watch beyond the first half.

Brazil said: "Last night, I went to bed at half-time. I thought, I can't watch this." Saunders replied: "They just got outclassed. They gave away a ridiculous penalty. Jhon Duran is playing for Benfica now. He scored two.

"It looked like a Premier League team against a League One team at times, the way Benfica were knocking the ball around."

(Image: Armando Franca)

Brazil also criticised Celtic's wide play, contrasting it with the performance of Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni. He added: "The boy on the left-hand side for them, the Italian name [Gianluca Prestianni] with blonde hair, he was different class.

"You look at Celtic wide—pants."

Celtic's night started poorly with Dane Murray conceding an early penalty, which Jhon Duran converted.

Alexander Bah then scored before Duran added a second to leave the Hoops down three goals by half-time. While Camilo Duran scored a consolation, Vangelis Pavlidis finished the rout with a late fourth for Benfica.

Attention now turns to domestic matters as Celtic face a Premiership clash against Hearts.