Earlier this season, I got my hands on a ticket to see Hearts face Benfica in a Europa League qualifier in Edinburgh.

In the first leg a week earlier, Hearts had suffered a humbling 6-1 defeat in Lisbon, so the tie was essentially a dead rubber. This, coupled with the fact that I’d never been to Tynecastle, was reason enough for me to disguise my Celtic loyalties and go.

The game was played on the same night as Rangers’ embarrassing Europa League exit to Jagiellonia Białystok, so by the end of the game, the whole of Tynecastle was singing ‘Cheer up Derek McInnes’. This was certainly the highlight of the evening — but what about the football?

The game finished 1-1, ensuring a 7-2 aggregate victory for Marco Silva’s side. Now that Celtic are set to face the Portuguese giants in a daunting tie tomorrow evening, I can share my observations on a side registered as fifth-favourites with the bookies to win the Europa League.

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Hearts 1-1 Benfica: What stood out about Celtic’s opponents

Understandably, Hearts were keen to keep the crowd engaged with a fast start. They were keen to get Claudio Braga into some one-on-one moments against the visiting centre-backs, and he got some joy, but support was lacking.

More often than not, their fast attacks ended with Benfica reclaiming comfortable possession. This is where the quality gap was most evident — however, a wasteful first half saw the away side fail to capitalise on their territorial dominance.

From the very beginning, one man stood out in the Benfica attack: Ukrainian attacking midfielder Georgiy Sudakov.

The 24-year-old was always on the move, comfortable on both feet and caused Hearts all sorts of problems with his technical ability. Intricate through balls, long-distance Hollywood passes and diminutive dribbles all seemed to come off for him on the night.

Players like Sudakov can be invaluable for controlling matches. Benfica frustrating Hearts with long passages of possession became a theme of the night, and their number 10 was central to this. Celtic will be left chasing shadows if this guy is as involved tomorrow as he was in Gorgie.

He scored in their 2-0 win over Vitoria at the weekend, so is unfortunately likely to start. Also impressive in Edinburgh was their right-back, Amar Dedic. Thankfully, however, this was the defender’s final appearance for the club, as he joined Newcastle for £30 million just a few days later.

Benfica now face something of a selection dilemma in the right-back department, with new first-choice Alexander Bah ruled out through a shoulder injury. Boss Silva is likely to start versatile midfielder Fredrik Aursnes or youngster Daniel Banjaqui instead.

Hearts took a surprise lead through a long-range Tomas Magnusson in the 77th minute, but the celebrations didn’t last for long. Just two minutes later, Benfica’s equaliser came through Belgian international winger Dodi Lukebakio. It was a fine first-time finish from the edge of the box.

Benfica never really had to get out of second gear on their trip to the Scottish capital. In the first leg, however, they absolutely did, blowing the Jambos away in a first-half which saw them race into a 3-0 lead.

If the Portuguese side show their undoubted quality tomorrow night, Celtic face an incredibly tough task.