Benfica vs FC Salzburg Match Stats Preview
This is the first ever competitive meeting between Benfica and FC Salzburg. Benfica have never lost against Austrian opponents in all competitions (W5 D3), most recently beating FK Austria Wien 4-1 on aggregate in qualifying for the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League.
FC Salzburg are winless in both of their previous away games against Portuguese opponents, losing 2-0 to Sporting CP in November 1993 (UEFA Cup) and drawing 1-1 at Vitória Guimarães in September 2017 (UEFA Europa League).
This is Benfica's 12th UEFA Champions League appearance in the last 13 seasons, only failing to qualify in 2020-21 in that run.
Benfica have reached the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League in each of the last two seasons – they've never done so in three consecutive appearances in the competition before.
This will be FC Salzburg's sixth appearance in the UEFA Champions League, twice as many as any other Austrian side. They've progressed past the group stages just once, doing so in 2021-22 before losing 8-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the round of 16.
FC Salzburg have never kept a clean sheet in 16 UEFA Champions League away games – it's the most any side have played on the road without ever keeping a shutout.
No team generated more shots (21) or scored more goals (5) following high turnovers than Benfica in the UEFA Champions League last season.
Of the 32 teams to feature in the UEFA Champions League last season, FC Salzburg were the side with the lowest pass completion rate under pressure (65%). Indeed, Viktoria Plzen (15) were the only team who had fewer 10+ pass sequences from open play than the Austrians (19).
João Mário scored six goals in last season's UEFA Champions League, the joint-most by a Benfica player in a single campaign (level with Darwin Núñez in 2021-22).
19-year-old Oscar Gloukh could become the youngest ever Israeli player to score in the UEFA Champions League, with the current record being held by Manor Solomon (20y 69d v Atalanta in October 2019).
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