Red Bull Salzburg vs Benfica – Preview, Prediction and Betting Tips 12/12/2023

Red Bull Salzburg and Benfica meet this Tuesday, in a match valid for the last round of the UEFA Champions League group stage.

The teams are part of Group D, which also includes Real Sociedad from Spain and Inter, from Italy.

The places for the playoffs have already been defined between the Spanish and Italians, but even if they are already eliminated from this dispute, the Austrians and Portuguese decide who will take the place in the Europa League.

The situation is favorable to the Austrian team, as Red Bull Salzburg appears in third place, with 4 points, with a 3 advantage over Benfica itself.

Their campaign is very bad and so far has seen 3 defeats in 5 games, as well as a draw and a victory, with a measly 3 goals scored and 5 conceded.

It’s a team that tends to play more vertical games and be dominant in possession with high lines it’s a risk it’s not willing to take.

Their only victory came against the Portuguese team itself, when on their debut they won in Lisbon by a score of 2-0.

On that occasion, Benfica had a player sent off just 13 minutes into the game and after that, even with great offensive volume and still putting a lot of pressure on Red Bull Salzburg, they gave up space and ended up conceding 2 goals.

In fact, Benfica entered this competition as one of the teams that attracted attention.

This is due to his campaign in the Champions League last season, but also his excellent performance in his national league.

However, the team did not win a single game. They have 4 defeats and only one draw, with 4 goals scored and 10 conceded.

They lost the first 4 games of the competition, always showing defensive failures.

The last match was perhaps the final blow to end the last bit of confidence and dignity they still had.

Playing at home against Inter, they led 3-0 in the first half, but conceded the draw in the second half.

It was a game that, although not worth surviving in the playoff race, could give them a more comfortable situation for the confrontation against Salzburg.

For this confrontation it is essential that Benfica wins with a large margin of goals.

This is because the tiebreaker, in case the teams reach the end of the last round with the same score, will be based on direct confrontation.

As Benfica lost 2-0 at home to Red Bull Salzburg, a simple victory does not give them an advantage.

That’s why they will need to beat the Austrian team at home, to still have any chance of having an international calendar in the second half of European football.

In this way, we should see a very aggressive Benfica team, just like in the direct confrontation between these teams, where even with one less player they had a good volume of shots.

However, as their numbers show, they are a team that has a weakened defense at this point in the competition and therefore, we believe that the tendency is also for them to concede goals in this game.

This way, my choice will be on the market for both teams to score, as I do not trust the theoretical favoritism that bookmakers give to the Portuguese team.