Benfica X-Ray Opponents Champions League 2023

Benfica will face Internazionale (Italy), FC Salzburg (Austria) and Real Sociedad (Spain) in the UEFA Champions League, Group D.

The campaign of the reds in the group stage of the present edition of the biggest event of clubs in Europe will be full of reunions.

Months after they faced each other in the UCL quarter-finals, Benfica and Internazionale are back to play in 2023/24. At the time, the Italians won 0-2 at Estádio da Luz in the 1st leg, and in the 2nd leg, at San Siro, 3-3 was the score. The nerazzurri would reach the final, where they lost against Manchester City.

On the other hand, Roger Schmidt will meet again the club where he won the first title of his career. In 2013/14, the German coach guided FC Salzburg to the first of 10 consecutive Austrian titles, leaving the following season to join Bayer Leverkusen.

THE OPPONENTS

Internazionale
Squad
Goalkeepers	Sommer, Audero and Di Gennaro
Defenders	Bastoni, Pavard, De Vrij, Bisseck, Acerbi, Darmian, Dumfries, Dimarco and Carlos Augusto
Midfielders	Asllani, Agoumé, Barella, Çalhanoglu, Frattesi, Sensi and Mkhitaryan
Wingers/forwards	Cuadrado, Lautaro Martínez, Marcus Thuram, Alexis Sánchez and Arnautovic
The most valuable*
Lautaro Martínez (85 M€), Barella (75 M€), Bastoni (60 M€), Pavard (40 M€) and Çalhanoglu (40 M€)
Coach	Simone Inzaghi
Last official XI (3x5x2)	Sommer; Darmian, De Vrij e Bastoni; Dumfries, Mkhitaryan, Barella, Çalhanoglu and Dimarco; Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martínez
Current position in the league	3rd place

* Source: transfermarkt.pt

History of clashes
Date	Game	Competition
19/04/2023	Inter-Benfica 3-3	Champions League 2022/23 Quarter-Finals
11/04/2023	Benfica-Inter 0-2	Champions League 2022/23 Quarter-Finals
25/03/2004	Inter-Benfica 4-3	UEFA cup 2003/04 Round 4
11/03/2004	Benfica-Inter 0-0	UEFA cup 2003/04 Round 4
27/05/1965	Inter-Benfica 1-0	European Champions Clubs' Cup 1964/65 Final

FC Salzburg
Squad
Goalkeepers	Schlager, Mantl and Krumrey
Defenders	Pavlovic, Solet, Piatkowski, Morgalla, Okoh, Baidoo, Wallner, Terzic, Guindo, Ulmer and Dedic
Midfielders	Gourna-Douath, Diambou, Kjaergaard, Capaldo, Bidstrup, Omoregie, Kounfolo Yeo, Sucic, Gloukh, Kameri and Forson
Wingers/forwards	Fernando, Sekou Koita, Konaté, Simic, Ratkov and Dorgeles
The most valuable*
Pavlovic (25 M€), Sucic (18 M€), Solet (17 M€), Dedic (15 M€) and Kjaergaard (13 M€)
Coach	Gerhard Struber
Last official XI (4x4x2)	Schlager; Dedic, Baidoo, Pavlovic e Kjaergaard; Gourna-Douath, Kameri, Bidstrup and Gloukh; Dorgeles and Konaté
Current position in the league	1st place

* Source: transfermarkt.pt

Real Sociedad
Squad
Goalkeepers	Remiro and Marrero
Defenders	Le Normand, Zubeldia, Elustondo, Pacheco, Tierney, Muñoz, Diego Rico, Hamari Traoré and Álex Sola
Midfielders	Zubimendi, González de Zarate, Mikel Merino, Turrientes, Olasagasti, Brais Méndez, Zakharyan, Robert Navarro and Pablo Marín
Wingers/forwards	Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea, Merquelanz, Kubo, Sadiq, André Silva, Ali Cho, Karrikaburu and Carlos Fernández
The most valuable*
Mikel Merino (50 M€), Oyarzabal (40 M€), Zubimendi (40 M€), Le Normand (25 M€) and Remiro (25 M€)
Coach	Imanol Alguacil
Last official XI (4x2x3x1)	Remiro; Hamari Traoré, Zubeldia, Le Normand e Muñoz; Mikel Merino and Zubimendi; Kubo, Brais Méndez and Barrenetxea; Carlos Fernández
Current position in the league	12th place

* Source: transfermarkt.pt

Draw
Group A Teams	Group B Teams
Bayern Munich (Germany)	Sevilla (Spain)
Manchester United (England)	Arsenal (England)
Copenhagen (Denmark)	PSV (Netherlands)
Galatasaray (Turkey)	RC Lens (France)
Group C Teams	Group D Teams
Napoli (Italy)	Benfica (Portugal)
Real Madrid (Spain)	Internazionale (Italy)
Braga (Portugal)	FC Salzburg (Austria)
Union Berlin (Germany)	Real Sociedad (Spain)
Group E Teams	Group F Teams
Feyenoord (Netherlands)	Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)	Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Lazio (Italy)	AC Milan (Italy)
Celtic (Scotland)	Newcastle (England)
Group G Teams	Group H Teams
Manchester City (England)	Barcelona (Spain)
RB Leipzig (Germany)	FC Porto (Portugal)
Red Star (Serbia)	Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Young Boys (Switzerland)	Antwerp (Belgium)