Game Preview
On Wednesday, the Estadio da Luz will host the first match of the Champions League group stage for both Benfica and Red Bull Salzburg. The home team advanced to the semifinals, while the visitors had to settle for a spot in the Europa League’s second round.
After reaching the quarterfinals of Europe’s premier competition in 2022-23, Roger Schmidt’s Benfica side won the 38th Primeira Liga title in club history and qualified for the 2023-24 Champions League group stage.
Aguias were placed in a tough group with PSG, Juventus, and Maccabi Haifa, but they finished first in the group with a perfect record thanks to four wins and two draws against the French powerhouse.
After five games in their defense of the league title, including a victory over Porto in the Supertaca Candido de Oliveira, they are ready to begin the new group stage. They’ll be looking to ride that wave of confidence into their first home game of the group stage against Inter Milan on Wednesday and Real Sociedad the following month.
They face a Red Bull Salzburg team that, like them, will want to get off to a fast start in their quest to make history by becoming the second team in club history to advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
The Austrian team finished third in a group that also contained Chelsea, AC Milan, and Dinamo Zagreb, with a total of six points. This was not enough to secure a spot in the round of 16, thus the team would have to compete in the Europa League instead.
Die Roten Bullen were scheduled to play Roma in the next round, and despite winning the first leg at home, they ultimately lost the match 2-1 and were eliminated.
For the first time this season, Struber’s squad will be focusing on anything other than the league. They will head to Estadio da Luz hoping to pick up a big win before playing Real Sociedad in the second round of group play.
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Benfica vs Salzburg Game Information
- Date: 09/20/2023
- Time: 03:00 PM ET
- Location: Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz) (Lisboa).
- How to Watch Benfica vs Salzburg: ESPN+
- Live Stream: fubo.tv
