Champions League: Inter Attempt to Shut the Door on Benfica

S.L. Benfica vs Inter Milan

We are approaching the final stretch of the Champions League group stages! Every football fan has been spoiled with an action-packed start to this season’s campaign, as every group in the tournament has delivered an assortment of upsets, supremacies, and Champions League 2023 highlights as well.

Group D is no exception, as the fate of the bottom two clubs is yet to be set in stone. It’s down to the wire for RB Salzburg and Benfica as to who will be awarded the ticket to compete in the Europa League group stages.

Benfica need to win both of their last two matches in order to be in the conversation of Europa League contention, while Salzburg are not under as much pressure as Benfica as they lead their Italian rivals.

Despite the fact that Inter Milan and Real Sociedad have all but guaranteed spots in the round of 16, their next two group stage games will have an influence on the final Group D standings.

Talking Points

Benfica need a perfect run moving forward

Roger Schmidt needs to come up with wins fast. The mighty Benfica have been a formidable threat in Liga Portugal, but they can’t seem to translate their success in the Portuguese top flight to the Champions League group stages.

In Liga Portugal, the Eagles are currently tied with Sporting with 28 points, with Benfica leading only in terms of goal difference. They have been on a tear, winning four of their last five league matches, which included clean-sheet victories over Porto, Chaves, and Estoril Praia.

They have also been unstoppable in the Taca de Portugal, thrashing João Pedro Sousa’s Famalicão with a 2-0 clean sheet victory in Lisbon. With this win, Benfica, alongside other Portuguese giants Porto and Sporting, get past the fourth round and advance to the next stage of the tournament.

With this much success, it’s really a head-scratcher why Benfica are struggling in the group stages of the Champions League. They are dead last in Group D, and they need to stay perfect moving forward if they even want a chance to compete in the Europa League group stage.

They will face Inter Milan and RB Salzburg for their last two matches in the Champions League, and to tally a win against either, or more so both, of these clubs would be a tall order even for the Liga Portugal frontrunners.

Inter dominating Serie A and Group D

Meanwhile, Simone Inzaghi’s team can’t seem to get anything wrong for them. The Italian giants are dominating both Serie A and their rivals in the Champions League group stages.

The Lautaro Martínez-led Internazionale are the current league leaders in Serie A with 32 points and a staggering 23 GD. Inter are fending off a resurging Juventus team, who are taking care of 30 points in the Italian top flight and are having a comeback season after a lacklustre 2022–2023 campaign.

And with how good their form has been in the Italian top flight and in the Champions League, it seems like they’re poised to top both Serie A and Group D before entering the round of 16. Talk about dominance. At this point in the 2023–24 season, Inter Milan, Arsenal, and Real Madrid are the only clubs that are both atop their respective leagues and atop their groups in the Champions League as well.

History

History shows that the top club in Liga Portugal is winless in all of their last six European outings against Inter Milan. And it doesn’t help their cause for their match against Inter by playing in their home stadium, as they seem to struggle at their own home turf in the Champions League.

The last time these two clubs faced off in the Champions League was back on October 4, when Inter Milan played host to Benfica at San Siro. It was an offencive showcase courtesy of Inter Milan, as they tried to take a crack at the goal 21 times and were on target eight times.

To Benfica’s credit, they held their own and controlled possession, passes, and pass accuracy for most of the match. But in the end, they ultimately succumbed to the prowess of Inter’s flurry of attacks. The match ended on a 1-0 score line in favour of the home team.

Betting Tip

Despite being on opposite ends of the Group D table, both clubs are priced by the SBOTOP Champions League 2023 odds very closely, with no team being the heavy favourites. Even though their forms in the Champions League are quite different from one another, both clubs are dominating in their respective leagues. Given this, Benfica are priced as only the slight favourites at 2.52, while Inter are the slight underdogs at 2.58.

Given their recent form against Europe’s best clubs, Inter Milan as the underdogs at 2.58 possess a lot of value for punters to consider. Inter have yet to taste defeat in their Champions League campaign this season, and I personally don’t think Benfica are breaking that streak.

Benfica suffered four losses in a row to start their Champions League season. In those four matches, Roger Schmidt and his team only managed to find the back of the net once, conceding seven goals in the process.

 

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