Strachan wants to win it for the Lions

CELTIC manager Gordon Strachan is hoping to repay the Lisbon Lions by beating Benfica in the city where the Glasgow side became the first British side to lift the European Cup.

Seven of the legendary team which beat Inter Milan 2-1 in the 1967 final have made an emotional return to Portugal to watch the Champions League Group F match at the Estadio da Luz.

Celtic have never won an away game in the revamped version of Europe’s elite club competition but are on the verge of reaching the knockout stages for the first time. Now Strachan is hoping his players can make their own history for the Lions and the fans, who have made the pilgrimage to Lisbon.

He said: “There are a lot of reasons why everyone from Celtic was looking forward to coming to Lisbon. Obviously, there are the fantastic memories and also the chance to watch a new side playing.

“So, hopefully, we can give the fans some memories of their own to pass on. We are delighted the Lisbon Lions are here and, hopefully, we can give them something to be proud about as well.

“It is an honour to manage Celtic in Lisbon, it is exciting and a challenge. So we have all these things to enjoy. We understand how big the challenge is, but we are relishing it.”

Celtic skipper Neil Lennon reiterated Strachan’s desire to emulate the historical mark made by the Lions in Lisbon almost 40 years ago. He said: “The Lions are always very encouraging, we aspire to what they have achieved — that is the incentive for us.

“It is an emotional time for a lot of the fans because Lisbon has a lot of very happy memories, obviously, and it is great that the 1967 team are on the trip with us,

“But it is a side issue as far as we are concerned. We have a big game to concentrate on and it cannot come quickly enough for us.

“What we need is a big performance from every individual, but the character the lads have shown in the last few months has been tremendous.

“We are on a good run of form, but we do not take anything for granted. Away games in the Champions League are as tough as it gets and I am sure tomorrow will be no different. But we are quietly confident and just looking forward to getting out there.”

Strachan insists his players can shrug aside the emotion of the night to concentrate on getting the three points which would effectively guarantee safe passage to the knockout phase for the first time.

He said: “We will try and stay focused on the game. If you are talking about emotion, we could have easily lost ourselves in that before the game against them at Celtic Park a fortnight ago. That was emotional and the players handled that okay. I am hoping they can handle this the same way.”

The Parkhead side have no fresh injury worries apart from the absence of longer-term casualties Mark Wilson, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Thomas Gravesen.

Strachan added: “Paul Telfer and Stephen Pearson were worries yesterday, but their knocks have cleared up and we will have a better idea before the game.”