Martin O'Neill often points out that, in relation to legacy, every Celtic manager since Jock Stein is simply a follower. And in fairness, as he retraces the footsteps of his greatest predecessor in Lisbon on Thursday night, few are expecting a triumph akin to that of 1967.
Benfica are Europa League favourites and defeated AC Milan 2-0 at San Siro on matchday one. Celtic, meanwhile, lost at home to Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.
Any positive result at Estadio da Luz would kickstart a league phase campaign that threatens to peter out. O'Neill, though, knows Benfica's quality.
They spent over £55million in the summer transfer window and earned upwards of £120m through several sales. Jhon Duran (ex-Aston Villa) and Joao Palhinha (ex-Tottenham Hotspur) are just a few former Premier League regulars among their ranks, not to mention head coach Marco Silva, who previously led both Everton and Fulham.
The narrative that Benfica are a Champions League-level team playing in Europe’s second-tier competition isn’t wide of the mark.
"Benfica themselves are one of the favourites here," O’Neill said ahead of Thursday’s game. ''We've got a task on our hands. But at the end of the day. It depends how it's taken. Somebody asked me about prioritising... but I think when we set out every single season, the league is really, really important.
"European football, I've often said this before, is a diet in which you want to be feeding off. You really do. And it gets tougher every single year."
The continental stage is so arduous that Celtic will likely never repeat the Lisbon Lions' antics. O'Neill watched that 2-1 win over Inter Milan at boarding school, before linking up with goal scorer Tommy Gemmell at Nottingham Forest a few years later.
"I can remember watching the game. I was at a boarding school at the time," O'Neill said. "There were around 200 boarders, stretching from 11 years of age up to 18. I was around 15 the time and we were allowed to watch the game.
"It was a black and white TV and we all gathered around it - and before the game started it stopped working. Then one of the priests came down, gave it a thump on the back, and it started to work again. We thought he’d worked a miracle!
"So we saw the whole game and Celtic were brilliant. I’ve never been to the stadium [Estadio Nacional] but I’d love to go. I intend to do it. There may even be a possibly of going before our game. We’ll see how the day goes."
"Obviously in Northern Ireland you’re either Celtic or Rangers," he continued. "After watching in ’67, fast forward to 1971 when I went to Nottingham Forest and about six weeks later Tommy Gemmell arrived. He made his debut on Boxing Day of 1971 and I played with him. That’s a long time ago."
Now to the present, and Celtic's stance in Europe has altered entirely, with O'Neill the last manager to lead them to a continental final back in 2003. They haven't won a European knockout tie since 2004 and their targets for this campaign are clear.
"First of all, we're going to try and qualify for the knockout stages for a start," O'Neill said. "We did that last year and that's what we're trying to do.
"We've got another seven games in which to try and get enough points to qualify. So that would be the ambition for us.
"We can still do it. We lost our opening game. You don't want to lose the game. We could easily have beaten Ferencvaros early on in proceedings. We've got two or three great chances that we should have scored. We didn't do. Of course, that's a setback.
"The game was a setback during the course of that week. This is a difficult game for us. They'll [Benfica] be one of the favourites to win the competition. But we have games in which to get the points. It seems to get tougher for Scottish teams. But at the end of it all, let's go and compete.
"It's only a couple of years ago since they nearly beat Bayern Munich. So it's been up and down, hasn't it?
"I think what you want to do is play really well in this game if you can. It'll be difficult for us, but we're capable of doing it. And we will cause them problems during the course of the game. We certainly will do it."
How long, though, until Celtic consistently compete in Europe?
"It might not be during my time but they will definitely do it. It’s a case of getting recruitment right."
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One of Celtic's recent recruits, Camilo Duran, didn't travel with the squad to Lisbon because his partner, Valentina, recently gave birth.
But the Colombian, who's scored seven goals since his summer move from Qarabag, is still expected to be available against Benfica.
"He should come out and join us," O'Neill explained. "It’ll be great to have him with us. His partner has had the baby so it’s brilliant.
"There is a possibility of trying to get something organised to fly him out to Lisbon this evening [Wednesday]. But failing that he’ll travel tomorrow [Thursday]."
The situation isn't as positive with Cameron Carter-Vickers. The central defender will be missing for another ten days due to a hamstring strain.
O'Neill shut down suggestions that the American's been dropped because of his recent comments about Celtic's lack of tactical consistency.
"He’s injured. It’s very difficult to play a player when he’s injured," O'Neill added. "I think they are talking about another ten days, in which we’ll probably have 15 games!"
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