Benfica steals the Europa League from Salzburg, Real Sociedad first

Benfica saved the game in the 2nd minute of stoppage time after a goal from Artur Cabral made the difference of two goals to win 3-1 on her Salzburg whom he overtook in his 3rd place 4th group the Champions League and continues in the playoffs of the round of 16 of the Europa League.

The Austrians had won 2-0 in Lisbon and therefore needed to maintain their lead, but had to chase after a corner from Angel di Maria. The Argentinian took direct action, beat Alexander Slager and Salzburg immediately cooled down.

After a great double chance for Salzburg, the guests scored their second goal at the end of the first half through Rafa Silva. This score gave the Portuguese qualification as they had a better attack in the group, as in the games between them the scores and also the goal difference in the group were the same.

The second half began with Benfica having the ball at their feet and trying to defend that lead. Salzburg moved further and further forward and left gaps that Silva tried to exploit on the counterattack.

Luka Sucic scored for the Austrians in the 57th minute and turned the tables on the question of 3rd place, which now belonged to them. Roger Schmidt didn’t sit idle and threw Petar Musa and Gonzalo Guedes into the game in search of another goal.

There were enough chances, but the score remained 2-1, with the result that Artur Cabral was also substituted in stoppage time. The Brazilian came into the game and scored Benfica’s ‘golden’ goal with a backheel shot, securing their place in the European competitions in February.

• SALZBURG: Slager, Dedic, Piatkowski, Pavlovic, Baidu, Suchic, Gurna Duat, Bindstrup (90+5′ Simic), Gluch (82′ Cameri), Ratkov (55′ Fernando), Dorzles (55′ Coita)
• BENFICA: Trumbin, Oursnes, Arauzo, Otamendi, Morato, Neves, Ketsiou (68′ Guedes), Di Maria, R. Silva (90+4′ Luis), Mario (90+1′ Cabral), Tengstedt (46′ Musa)

The zero gave Real Sociedad the lead

THE Real company benefited from the draw 0-0 against Inter at the “Giuseppe Meazza” after being kept at the top of the group and will face a second group in the round of 16 for which both teams have already qualified.

The Basques had more than 70% possession of the ball in the first half, but with only two final attempts (including failed attempts) they were unable to put Jan Sommer in trouble. On the contrary, the Nerazzurri tried to find something good, especially with counterattacks, but neither Alexis Sanchez nor Markus Turam found the net.

As time went on, the home team seemed more and more reliant on a goal and a top spot in the group and tried to attack in every way possible. Turam had a great moment to score, but the same could be said for the Basques, who converted a penalty in the final minutes.

Takefusa Kubo did a slalom and overtook everyone in front of him, entered the area, fell to the ground and fooled the referee, but not the VIDEO. The Japanese player received a yellow card, the referee took back the penalty and in the end it was 0-0 until the end, with Lautaro Martines (who came on as a substitute) having the last great moment of the game.

• INTER: Sommer, Darmian, Acerbi, Augusto, Cuadrado, Fratezi, Tsalhanoglu (82′ Aslani), Mikitarian (65′ Barela), Dimarco (77′ Bastoni), Turam (65′ Arnautovic), Sanchez (65′ Martines).
• REAL SOCIETY: Remiro, Traore, Thumpeldia (77′ Eloustondo), Le Normand, Munioth (86′ Tierney), Thubimedi, Kubo (86′ Fernandez), Merino, Zacharian (77′ Magunatelaya), Oyarthabal, Sadik (61′ Turrientes)

The results of the 6th matchday in the 4th group

• Inter – Real Sociedad 0-0
• Salzburg – Benfica 1-3 (57′ Sucic / 32′ Di Maria, 45+1′ R. Silva, 90+2′ Cabral)

all results

• Benfica – Salzburg 0-2 (15′ Simic, 51′ Gluch)
• Real Sociedad – Inter 1-1 (4′ Mendes / 87′ Martines)
• Salzburg – Real Sociedad 0-2 (7′ Oyarthabal, 27′ Mendes)
• Inter-Benfica 1:0 (62′ Turam)
• Inter-Salzburg 2-1 (19′ Sanchez, 64′ penalty. Tsalhanoglou / 57′ Gluck)
• Benfica – Real Sociedad 0-1 (63′ Mendes)
• Real Sociedad – Benfica 3-1 (6′ Merino, 11′ Oyarthambal, 21′ Barenetsea / 49′ R. Silva)
• Salzburg – Inter 0-1 (85′ pt. Martines)
• Benfica – Inter 3-3 (5′, 13′, 34′ Mario / 51′ Arnautovic, 58′ Fratezi, 72′ penalty. Sanchez)
• Real Sociedad – Salzburg 0-0
• Inter – Real Sociedad 0-0
• Salzburg – Benfica 1-3 (57′ Sucic / 32′ Di Maria, 45+1′ R. Silva, 90+2′ Cabral)