DMAA

Ooh, warming up. I called it.

Would like to see Itten replace Morelos. Could do with a bit more energy and pace up there.

I just can’t praise him highly enough. Ryan Kent’s work rate combined with Lionel Messi’s touch and finishing.

Roofe is a proper quality player. His all round game is just brilliant. What a signing he he has been.

My word you’d think someone just died with the tone of those commentators

ROOOOOOFE

Shocking that the linesman doesn’t flag for that hand ball

Red card for Liege striker in other game so he will miss our game

This is tense

Really pleased with that first half. 0 shots on target for Benfica. And this time they don’t have their two best players to come off the bench. They are definitely a very dangerous side but we have done really well so far. It’s just a shame that this time we don’t have the same quality of player to come off the bench without Jack and Aribo. But we still look threatening and just as likely to score.

Spectacular slip from Morelos there. I’m just surprised he wasn’t looking for a free kick.

Brilliant from Kent getting a player booked there

Roofe is a really hard worker, very similar to Kent in the way he works for the team and blocks off passing channels.

Kent needs to stop using Barisic as a diversion and start passing to him when he overlaps, that’s where our goal came from.

Why isn’t Helander playing!? And what’s happened to Aribo

Yeh I do agree. There was a pretty straightforward explanation at the time. We lost 2-1 at Tynecastle without Tavernier, Helander and Morelos (and Jack for 45 minutes). Helander was underappreciated at the time but I think people realise now he was a much bigger miss than they thought. By the time Tavernier finally returned from injury we had dropped 5 points, and then straightaway Barisic got injured and missed 3 games in which we dropped another 5. Of course these things weren't excuses but it wasn't like it was a total mystery, we had rotten luck with our hardest-to-replace players missing loads of games.

Just had a look back at the team we started against Rapid Vienna when we got knocked out in 18/19 and compared it to the team who started against Benfica. The core of our team is the same, and yet the 4 changes make a big difference (I haven't counted Kamara over Arfield because Arfield still plays). McAuley 38 - Helander 27 Coulibaly 21 - Aribo 24 McCrorie 19 - Davis 35 Middleton 18 - Kent 24 And what that doesn't even take into account is that the rest of the team, to a man, are better players than they were then, playing in a system which is now second nature to them.

Get intae them!

We have come back from the break twice and let Celtic overtake us and open up a gap. If there was a winter break this year I wouldn't be worried about it, but it's probably a little bit more than a myth in that there is truth in it. On empty stadiums, I think it benefits us away from home. The teams in this league need every advantage they can get against us and losing their crowd doesn't help them. I don't think it makes much difference at Ibrox, I think too much has been made of that.

I am happy with our backups but there is no denying it would be a huge concern if we lost either fullback for a period of time. Jack would be the obvious choice to play there if we didn't feel Patterson was up to it yet and I think he would do very well at some things but not so much at others.

The loss of Nuno Tavares at left back is significant too. Well, their backup is valued at £25m by Transfermarkt and played the second half in the first game, but for whatever reason he has played second fiddle to Tavares this season. They are also missing Almeida and Pedrinho who seem to be their backup right back and right winger so not overly significant but they still get plenty appearances from the bench. Tolida is irrelevant really, a youth player who hasn't played this season. Waldschmidt is the big dangerman for me. Him and Nunez changed the game last time. They had no threat until they came on. His through balls were world class for both goals so hopefully we treat him with more respect in this game and don't give him an inch, both goals would have been prevented if we'd done that last time.

Thanks for that, interesting stuff. I think it shows that the talent is this team is evenly distributed. At times, last season in particular, many fans seemed to regard Kent and Morelos as superstars who stood out like a sore thumb in our team. I never understood that, although I could see after his run of goals that Morelos could attract large bids, due to his age and profile. But generally, I think we have talent throughout the team and it is pretty evenly distributed. There aren't many players who, if they got injured, it would be a catastrophe. The two players I think we would miss the most are Tavernier and Barisic, followed closely by Goldson. I've said for a while that I see Aribo as a player who will emerge as a crucial player this season, but his injury has set him back and he will need a bit of time to return to his best. All in all, very exciting times with this group of players.

He’s tried to dribble the ball out in several other games too and almost given us a problem. His ball control is adequate but not at the level where I want him to go for a dribble. I think he has been overrated by our support due to the fact he made a good start. A good backup but Helander is much better. Arfield gets my vote. He played with energy and urgency and created chances. Delighted that he is doing so well at 32. He is clearly benefiting from the bigger squad this season and the fact he hasn’t been playing for Canada.

Brilliant, thanks for that. This guy really knows his stuff, as reliable as you can get.

As I say, I find the expenditure a little bit concerning. But overall I’m not concerned. The board chose to turn down a £10m bid for Kent and a £16m bid for Morelos, both in which I said at the time we should accept. They have also chosen to continue investing in things when they could have stopped, Edmiston House is one example. Stadium improvements continued too. Zungu was signed when we barely needed him. All of these decisions were taken by the board when the financial picture was clear. So although I don’t fully understand it all, I’m not too concerned because I think they are best placed to make those decisions. A significant player sale has to come soon though.