Benfica will host RB Salzburg at the Estádio da Luz in their UEFA Champions League opener on Wednesday night. Benfica earned a place in the 2023-24 Champions League group stage after winning the 38th Primeira Liga title in their history last time around, and Roger Schmidt's side set their sights on another impressive continental run after reaching the quarter-finals of Europe's premier competition in 2022-23. They have extended their winning run in the Primeira Liga to four games as they recorded a 2-1 away win over Vizela on Sunday. Petar Musa and Angel Di Maria scored in the first half to help the hosts retain the third spot in the Primeira league table. Meanwhile, RB Salzburg have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their Austrian Bundesliga campaign and dropped points for the first time this season on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Strum Graz on Saturday, thanks to Sekou Koita's 73rd-minute penalty after Samson Baidoo had initially put them ahead. They are making just their sixth appearance, while the hosts are in the group stage of the competition for the 12th time in 13 seasons. I am expecting a win for Benfica for the following reasons:

Firstly. The Portuguese champion qualified for the group stage of the Champions League for the third time in a row, and not only that, the last two times they managed to reach the fourth final, which is a significant success in such a strong competition. They are on a four games winning run, after having suffered a losing start to their domestic league campaign against Boavista, they have gone on to put four straight victories together to establish themselves in the Primeira Liga's leading pack, most recently following up a 4-0 thrashing of Vitoria de Guimaraes with a 2-1 win over Vizela on Saturday. They will now aim to carry that momentum into their group opener on Wednesday and make a winning start on home turf.

Secondly. Red Bull Salzburg will look to start on the front foot in their bid to reach the Champions League knockout stage for just the second time in their history, after falling short of qualifying last year. They have enjoyed a fine start to the new term in their bid to win an 11th straight Austrian Bundesliga title, starting with six consecutive victories. However, they have failed to keep a clean sheet in 16 Champions League away games, the most any side has played on the road in this competition without one. Last term, they had the worst pass completion rate under pressure of any side in the group stage and they had the second-fewest 10+ pass sequences in open play across the competition. That doesn’t bode well for them, as no side generated more shots (21) or scored more goals (5) following high turnovers than Benfica in the Champions League in 22/23.

Benfica should make the perfect start, especially as their style of play should perfectly suit playing against a Salzburg side who aren’t quite up to the level in Europe. Red Bull Salzburg do have the tools to cause any side problems, but I see a trip to the Estadio da Luz being a step too far and expect Benfica to make their superior quality and experience count for a victory tomorrow night.

本菲卡将在周三晚上的欧洲冠军联赛揭幕战中主场迎战萨尔茨堡RB。本菲卡在上一届欧冠联赛中赢得了球队历史上的第38个冠军，获得了2023-24赛季欧冠小组赛的席位。罗杰·施密特的球队在2022-23赛季进入欧洲顶级赛事的四分之一决赛后，将目光投向了另一个令人印象深刻的大陆之旅。他们在周日客场2-1战胜维泽拉，将他们在西甲的连胜纪录延长到了四场。佩塔尔·穆萨和安吉尔·迪玛利亚在上半场进球，帮助东道主保住了联赛第三的位置。与此同时，萨尔茨堡在奥地利德甲联赛中取得了不败的开局，并在周六的比赛中本赛季首次失分，他们被斯特鲁姆·格拉茨2-2逼平，这要归功于塞库·科伊塔第73分钟的点球，当时萨姆森·拜杜曾一度领先。这是他们第六次参加世界杯，而东道主则是13个赛季以来第12次进入小组赛。我期待着本菲卡的胜利，理由如下:

首先。葡萄牙冠军连续第三次进入欧冠小组赛，不仅如此，前两次他们都成功进入了第四场决赛，这在如此激烈的比赛中是一个重大的成功。在国内联赛对阵博阿维斯塔的比赛中失利后，他们已经取得了四连胜，在西甲联赛中占据了领先地位，最近的一场比赛是在周六以4比0大胜维多利亚·德吉马良斯，并以2比1战胜维泽拉。他们现在的目标是将这种势头带到周三的小组赛揭幕战中，并在主场取得胜利。

其次。萨尔茨堡红牛队将在他们的历史上第二次进入欧冠淘汰赛阶段，在去年未能晋级资格赛之后，寻求开始的先手。他们在新赛季取得了良好的开局，他们的目标是赢得奥地利德甲联赛的11连冠，以6连胜开始。然而，他们在16场欧冠客场比赛中未能保持零封，这是迄今为止在欧冠客场比赛中失球最多的球队。上学期，他们在小组赛压力下的传球成功率是所有球队中最差的，他们在公开比赛中传球次数超过10次的次数是整个比赛中第二少的。这对他们来说并不是一个好兆头，因为在22/23赛季的欧冠联赛中，没有哪支球队在高失误的情况下创造了更多的射门(21次)或进球(5次)。

本菲卡应该有一个完美的开局，特别是他们的比赛风格应该完美地适应与萨尔茨堡的比赛，这支球队在欧洲还没有达到很高的水平。萨尔茨堡红牛确实有制造任何边线问题的手段，但我认为客场挑战卢兹球场太过分了，我希望本菲卡能在明晚的比赛中发挥他们出色的实力和经验。