Gordon Strachan did not feel the need to justify his changes

"The team's got a lot of heart, but at this level the technical ability of the teams you play against is absoultely fantastic," said the Celtic manager.

"We had a couple of chances ourselves and, on a lucky night, I thought we might get the result.

"It's a very cruel game and you have to deal with it."

Interview: Celtic manager Gordon Strachan

Interview: Celtic defender John Kennedy

Strachan's side lost 1-0 in Lisbon to a late Oscar Cardozo strike, but the Celtic manager said that, on the balance of sheer application, his side deserved a point.

"When you look at the Champions League, there are teams who get annihilated on chances and get themselves a point, so you need a bit of luck," he said.

We got through with nine points last year and it might be the same this year Celtic manager Gordon Strachan

"If you don't have that luck then you might lose the game and that's what happened tonight.

"You expect the home side to go for it anyway - and Benfica threw men forward and then we broke up the pitch and might have killed off the game, but they're a good attacking side."

Strachan thought his team had paid for giving the ball away too much throughout the match.

"If you don't give the ball away then you don't have to chase so much. And the less you have to chase, the fresher you are mentally and physically," he said.

The Celtic manager made several changes to the side that lost in the first Old Firm match of the season.

Top scorer Scott McDonald was replaced with Chris Killen and Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura also dropped to the bench.

"We've only two fit strikers at the club at the moment. We just thought that the team we put out tonight would have helped us and it nearly worked," Strachan said.

"I think it's very unfair for me to say why I leave players out.

"Sometimes you make decisions and the players understand where I'm coming from."

Celtic now sit bottom of group B on three points because of their head-to-head result with Benfica, but Strachan was upbeat about his side's chances of progression from the group stage.

"We're definitely not out of it," he said. "A point tonight would have been excellent.

"But we got through with nine points last year and it might be the same this year.

"I'll be very happy if we do well in the Champions League, but my priority is to win the Scottish league."

And, although it was a better scoreline than the 3-0 defeat in the Estadio da Luz last season, the Celtic boss says his team still lacks experience at the top level.