Inter vs. Benfica, the complete guide

After their 1-1 draw in San Sebastian, Inter are ready to return to Champions League action. At 21:00 CEST on Tuesday 3 October, the Nerazzurri will face Benfica at San Siro on mathcday two in Group D. The teams are set to meet again after last season's two-legged quarter-final tie that Simone Inzaghi's side progressed through.

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS

Inter and Benfica have previously met on five occasions. In addition to the two quarter-final clashes last season, there was the unforgettable European Cup final in 1965, with the Nerazzurri winning that game 1-0 at San Siro thanks to a goal from Jair. The two sides also faced each other over two legs in the UEFA Cup in 2003/04. Inter are unbeaten against Benfica across all European competitions with a record of three wins and two draws.

27/05/1965 Inter 1-0 Benfica 42' Jair 11/03/2004 Benfica 0-0 Inter 25/03/2004 Inter 4-3 Benfica 36' Nuno Gomez, 46' Martins, 61' Recoba, 65' Vieri, 68' Nuno Gomes, 71' Martins, 78' Tiago 11/04/2023 Benfica 0-2 Inter 51' Barella, 82' Lukaku. 19/04/2023 Inter 3-3 Benfica 14' Barella, 38' Aursnes, 66' Martínez, 79' Correa, 87' Silva, 96' Musa

OPPONENTS | BENFICA

Benfica, who are being led by Roger Schmidt for a second consecutive season, started the 2023/24 campaign with a 2-0 Portuguese Super Cup victory over Porto. Among others, Angel Di Maria, Orkun Kökcü (from Feyenoord), Arthur Cabral (from Fiorentina), David Jurasek (from Slavia Praha) and Anatoliy Trubin (from Shakhtar) all joined the club in the summer. Schmidt's side have picked up 18 points from their opening seven league matches having won six and lost once. They come into the game against the Nerazzurri on the back of an excellent 1-0 win over Porto thanks to Di Maria's finish.

While Benfica lost their opening Champions League match at home to Salzburg (a 2-0 defeat), they're currently on a ten-game unbeaten run away from home in Europe, which represents a record for the Portuguese side.

THE COACH

Roger Schmidt's coaching career has taken him to five different countries. He started out in the lower leagues of German football after taking over at Delbrücker while also working as a mechanical engineer in 2004. After experiences at SC Preußen Münster and SC Paderborn 07, he was appointed by Salzburg in 2012. He won the Austrian Football Bundesliga and Austrian Cup across two seasons with the Austrian side before accepting an offer to coach Bayer Leverkusen, who he led for three years. He then moved to Beijing Guoan and remained there until he took charge of PSV in 2020. His time at the Dutch club saw him win the KNVB Cup and Dutch Super Cup. He was given the Benfica job last season and has won the league and Portuguese Super Cup with his current club to date.

GROUP D

Benfica, Red Bull Salzburg and Real Sociedad are Inter's group stage opponents in the 2023/24 Champions League.

MATCHDAY TWO

Tuesday 3 October

21:00 CEST, INTER vs. Benfica 18:45 CEST, Red Bull Salzburg vs. Real Sociedad

REFEREE

Danny Makkelie will take charge of the match at San Siro and have Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries as his assistants. Allard Lindhout will perform the role of fourth official, while Rob Dieperink, assisted by Nejc Kajtazovic, will oversee VAR.

UPDATES ON INTER TV

Inter TV will have pre-match coverage and updates, with the latest from San Siro in the build-up to kick-off. Our Livematch show will be broadcast from 19:30 CEST and also be visible on our official YouTube and Twitch channels until 20:15 CEST. Analysis and interviews will follow after the game.