Midfielder Axel Witsel joined Russian side Zenit St Petersburg in a £32million switch, while Javi Garcia completed his transfer to Manchester City for £16m.
Lennon, who has also to negotiate Barcelona and Spartak Moscow as he bids to reach the knockout stage of the prestigious competition, TURN TO PAGE 41
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has insisted that he will not underestimate Champions League opponents Benfica despite the Portuguese club losing two of their top stars to big-money moves.
Midfielder Axel Witsel joined Russian side Zenit St Petersburg in a £32million move, while Javi Garcia completed his transfer to Manchester City for £16m.
Lennon, who has also to negotiate Barcelona and Spartak Moscow as he bids to reach the knockout stage of the prestigious competition, is still wary of Benfica.
He said: "They sold two players in the window, Garcia went to Man City, and the other player went for a lot of money as well. They still have a very strong squad though.
"They may be weakened by those sales but they are still a formidable opponent.
"We are going to take one step at a time so our focus will be Benfica.
"We had them watched at the weekend because they are our first opponents on September 19 and they won 3-0 against Nacional at home. We might try to get another look at them before we play them.
"We are at home and would really like to win that game and if we could get off to a good start it would really set the rest of the campaign up very nicely."
Meanwhile, the former Parkhead skipper will watch with interest as Scotland begin their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign on Saturday with a home game against Serbia, followed by the visit of Macedonia on Tuesday night.
The Northern Irishman said: "I think they need to get off to a good start and Serbia, even though they are going through a transitional period, will be pretty difficult opponents.
"But Scotland are capable of winning and if they did that would be a great boost and get the campaign up and running.
"Winning the home games are vital and if Scotland can pick things up away from home you never know where it could take you. But I think it is imperative you win your home games."
