Battle to stay in Europe v Benfica

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·11 December 2023

Battle to stay in Europe v Benfica

All-in one last time in 2023

After five gruelling UEFA Champions League group stage battles it is all coming down to this Tuesday at 21:00 CET. Our home match against Benfica in our Salzburg fortress will be the decider for third place and a spot in the Europa League in the spring!

In our own hands

We could have a much worse position going into the tie. A draw would definitely be enough to see us into the UEFA Europa League, while a defeat by a single goal would also suffice. Should Benfica beat us by two goals or more though, we will be out on goal difference or goals scored.

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We don't want to leave anything down to chance though, so we will go out to win at home - just as we did in Lisbon. We used the extra man's advantage to clinical effect with a converted Roko Simic penalty before Oscar Gloukh sealed the deal in the second half. You can see both those memorable strikes in our highlights of that encounter:

Silva sees red - again

Benfica's Antonio Silva was the man shown a red card against us in September for handling the ball on the goal line. The 20-year-old from Portugal will miss out on the tie in Salzburg as he was dismissed again in the last Champions League tie against Inter.

The clash between the Aguias and the Milanese outfit was quite the encounter. Benfica made an incredible start and raced 3-0 in front after 30 minutes of play, only for Marko Arnautovic to start a comeback in the 51st minute that led to a 3-3 draw. Angel Di Maria & Co. have drawn twice in the Portuguese league recently to go behind Sporting and Porto into third in the table.

That gives the Lisbon giants all the more reason to go for it in the Champions League - and we need you to support us as a 12th man. Let's give everything we have to finish 2023 in style in the UEFA Champions League!

Tickets, free broadcast in Austria and live stream

The Red Bull Arena will be packed, but there are a few tickets remaining for those who have purchased tickets in the past five years:

to the Ticket Shop

Due to planned fan display covering the entire stadium, we recommend that you get to your seat early on Tuesday evening! Everything worth knowing about coming to the stadium can be found here:

to the matchday info

For anyone not able to make it to the Red Bull Arena, we are providing live text updates on our website. You can also watch the match on Sky Sport Austria or DAZN in Austria.

Possible Benfica starting line-up

Views

We definitely won't be going out to get a draw. That doesn't suite our style or idea of football at all. We can't go into the game passively, we are determined to show we can play our usual way on the European stage, and we are focused on our performance not the result.

Gerhard Struber

Injury news

Not available for the match are Maurits Kjaergaard (shoulder), Oumar Solet (thigh) and Aleksa Terzic (adductors).
Nicolas Capaldo is out with a knee injury suffered against Rapid on Saturday.
Andreas Ulmer (ill) is a doubt.

My RBS Prediction Game

The My RBS Prediction Game also covers the UEFA Champions League. Don't forget to enter your predictions for our group - or you won't get any points at the end! You can register and play for free at any time, if you haven't managed that yet.

to the prediction game

UEFA Youth League clash on live stream

The UEFA Youth League clash between Benfica U19 and our Young Bulls kicks off on 14:30 on Tuesday. The game will be take place at the Red Bull Football Academy in Liefering, with tickets still available online in our Ticket Shop. All the information on the match, the RBS TV live stream and more can be found in our preview.

youth league preview