Celtic were in good company on Sunday as they sent a club official, or spy as the Portuguese media call them, to watch Benfica draw 1-1 with Setubal.
As well as several clubs from the English Premier League, La Liga’s Barcelona, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid all had someone attend the game. Slightly less glamorous, but still worthy, was the presence of officials from Turkish club Trabzonspor, Italy’s Carpi and Moldova’s Zimbru.
The official list has been published by Portuguese newspaper A Bola today, but they give no indication as to who Celtic were watching.
When Brendan Rodgers was in charge of Liverpool, the club often had someone attend the games of top Portuguese clubs, and Celtic have been there in the past too.
In May 2015 it was reported that Liverpool were days away from signing Benfica’s Salvio, before he suffered a serious knee injury. He played last night, and he would be an ultra-ambitious target for Celtic, but there was other talent on show too.