A disastrous first half in Lisbon has left Celts sitting third bottom of the Europa League with zero points from two matches

Benfica star Alexander Bah has praised Celtic's battling spirit despite his side thumping Hoops 4-1 in the Europa League.

Martin O'Neill's side shipped three goals inside 23 first half minutes, the second of which was scored by Danish international full back Bah.

Celts have now lost both of their first two matches in the competition and sit third from bottom in the Europa League standings, with qualification for the knockout phase already looking like a bleak possibility.

But Bah insists the game was not as easy as the scoreline may have suggested. He said: "You could see Celtic's quality in the second half. Although the scoreline was 4-1 to us, I certainly didn't think it was an easy game.

"In the first half, we just tried to play our game and we did that very well. I think you have to praise the whole team for that performance in the first half. Even the strikers were working hard to close Celtic down.

"But I believe we can still play better. It was nice to get another goal but I don't think Jhon Duran has anything to worry about from me in the top scorers' charts!"

Celtic host Celta Vigo on matchday three in the Europa League and face a Spanish side that have also collected zero points from their first two matches.

They suffered a shock 1-0 loss away to Omonoia in Cyprus last month and dropped two points right at the death on Thursday night after conceding a last-gasp goal to Turin giants Juventus.

But versatile Celta defender Yoel Lago is determined to pile more misery on Celts when they travel to Glasgow next week. "We now know we have to win in Glasgow to try and get to the next round and we will be giving 100 per cent to beat Celtic", he stated.

"Juventus are a great team and we matched them all the way. It was a heartbreaking way to lose so late in the game. But I am very proud of the way we played and competed with them."

His teammate Javi Rueda is also relishing the clash with Hoops. He said: "We need to get our first European win in Glasgow. And I think we can if we play as we did against Juventus. I believe this could be the turning point of our season because we have a very tough month coming up."

Celta manager Claudio Giraldez added: "The Europa League has started cruelly for us - we didn't deserve to lose to Juventus.

"We have now lost both games because of two very late goals. We went toe-to-toe with a legendary European team and will take a lot from this."

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