Celtic’s Europa League campaign gets off to a disastrous start – Rod treats himself to some ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’

Veröffentlicht am 16. Oktober 2026 um 10:30

Text: STORYTELLER/MH – Photos: Celtic FC / Facebook / Sinatra The Musical

It was as if he’d sensed that there was nothing to be gained for his ‘Boys in Green’ in Lisbon – a historic venue for all supporters of Celtic Football Club. Whilst his Hoops were battling for vital points in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in Portugal’s capital, our hero treated himself – along with his wife Penny – to what was surely a far more enjoyable evening at the Frank Sinatra musical (Sinatra The Musical) in London’s West End.
Whilst the singer listened to the sounds of Ol’ Blue Eyes at the Aldwych Theatre, his football heroes were toiling in vain at the Estadio da Luz and suffered a heavy 1–4 (0–3) thrashing.

After just five minutes, the side led by Celtic legend Martin O’Neill found themselves behind when Jhon Duran put the home side 1–0 up early on from the penalty spot. The home side subsequently dominated proceedings, throwing the Celtic defence into disarray time and again. The second goal came almost as expected: Alexander Bah doubled Benfica’s lead after just over 20 minutes. Duran then made it 3–0 for the Eagles in the 36th minute, which was also the half-time score.
It is not known how often Rod, back in London, checked his phone during the musical to keep up to date with events in Lisbon. Whatever news he received is sure to have sent his mood plummeting at one point or another.

At least things became somewhat more bearable in the second half. Celtic showed a marked improvement and created some very good chances. Camilo Duran pulled one back for the Hoops in the 63rd minute to make it 1–3, and from then on the visitors from Glasgow worked hard to get back into the game. But even the best chances went begging in the run-up to the end, and so the inevitable happened: former Dortmund player (at BVB from 2018 to 2019) Vangelis Pavlidis sealed the deal with a 4–1 goal shortly before the final whistle (89th minute).
For superfan Rod and the Celtic supporters who had travelled to Lisbon, it turned out to be a disappointing evening for the Hoops. At least a number of the Celtic fans made the most of their trip to Lisbon to visit the site of the club’s greatest triumph in its history before the match. Like manager Martin O’Neill and some of his assistants, the supporters visited the Estadio Nacional. It was there that Celtic won the European Cup in 1967, beating Inter Milan 2–1 in the final – the moment the legendary Lisbon Lions were born.