Benfica beat Salzburg 3-1 in Group D of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League

Angel Di Maria took the lead and put Benfica in the UEFA Europa League.

Benfica beat Salzburg 3-1 in Group D of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg, Austria, at 5 a.m. on Wednesday. Benfica was ahead of Salzburg in points overall, but ended up in the UPL by ranking third.

It was a surprising result. Benfica faced the crisis of being last in the group after losing two consecutive games against Salzburg and Inter Milan, and both games against Real Sociedad. It was his fifth game against Inter Milan that he got the chance. Benfica took the lead by Joao Mariu scoring three goals first, then lost consecutive games to Marco Arnautovic and Davide Pratesi before giving up the equalizer to Alex Sanchez.

Antonio Silva's exit faced a crisis, but managed to break a 3-3 draw to end his losing streak. With one draw and four losses, Benfica was able to enter the UEL by ranking third, even if it failed to advance to the round of 16. Against Salzburg, Benfica started Anatoly Truvin, Nicholas Otamendi, Thomas Araujo, Morato, João Neves, Di Maria, Rafa, and Mariu. 안전놀이터

Di María saved Benfica. Di María scored the first goal in the 32nd minute of the first half and made it 2-0 when he helped Rafa score in the extra time of the first half. Salzburg rallied from a goal in the 12th minute of the second half with Luka Souci, but Artur Cabral, who was substituted in the extra time of the second half, scored a goal to make it 3-1 and Benfica won.

Di Maria was named Player of the Match POTM. UEFA said, "She displayed world-class performance in terms of her performance. She displayed incredible game intelligence. She scored one goal and one assist, and is involved in most of the attack scenes." Di Maria recorded six shots, four key passes, four dribbles, three crosses, two long passes, and 81 percent of her pass success rate.

Di Maria said, "We deserved to win. We played a great game. We only scored one goal even after shooting 37 times in the previous game. We were doing well and had to win for our fans. We are on the right path and it is very important. It is very important to advance to UEL under Chairman Hui Costa. In his career, UEL played twice, but he had another chance. Every title is important and I will try to win it."