Real Sociedad travel to the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica to face Benfica this Tuesday in Matchday three of the Champions League. The two sides sit at the opposite ends of the group, with a win either bringing Benfica into contention for knock-outs or giving Sociedad the control of the game.
Benfica currently sit bottom of Group D after two games. The Portuguese side have two losses in those two games, leaving them on zero points and already three points adrift of the nearest side RB Salzburg.
In their last five games in all competitions, Benfica have four wins and a loss. Alexander Bah gave Benfica the lead after just five minutes against Portimonense, with Petar Musa also scoring before halftime. Helio Varela did score for Portimonense in the 56th minute but another goal, this time from David Neres, gave Benfica the 3 - 1 win. In a big game against Porto, Angel Di Maria came up big with a goal. This was the only goal of the game as Benfica beat ten man Porto, who had Fabio Cardoso sent off, 1 - 0.
The one loss came in the Champions League. Marcus Thuram scored the only goal of the game in the second half to give Inter Milan the 1 - 0 win, as they completely dominated Benfica, registering 21 shots in comparison to Benfica’s six shots. Benfica bounced back against Estoril Praia with Antonia Silva bagging the winning goal in the 93rd minute to give Benfica the 1 -0 win.
The last time out for Benfica was in the Third round of the Taca de Portugal against Lusitania. Joao Mario, Rafa Silva, Arthur Cabral and Tiago Gouveia all scored in the 4 - 1 win for Benfica.
Real Sociedad, on the other hand, sit top of Group D. The Spanish side have one win and one draw, leaving them on four points. Sociedad are level on points with Inter Milan but have a slightly better goal difference.
In their last five games in all competitions, Real Sociedad have four wins and a loss. Carlos Fernandez scored the only goal of the game in the 32nd minute as Sociedad held on for a 1 - 0 win against a ten man Valencia, who had Selim Amallah sent off in the first half. In the clash against Athletic Club, Robin Le Normand, Takefusa Kubo and Mikel Oyarzabal all scored in the 3 - 0 win for Sociedad.
Last time out in the Champions League, Sociedad faced RB Salzburg. Oyarzabal was on the scoresheet again, this time opening the scoring in the seventh minute. Brais Mendez then followed in the 27th minute as Sociedad played out the 2 - 0 win. The one loss came against a strong Atletico Madrid side. Samuel Lino gave Atletico the lead in the first half, which Sociedad could only respond to in the 73rd minute with a goal from Oyarzabal. However, Antonie Griezmann converted his penalty in the 89th minute to give Atletico the 2 - 1 win.
The most recent outing for Sociedad was against Mallorca. Mendez scored the only goal of the game in the second half to give Sociedad the 1 - 0 win.
This will be the first meeting between Benfica and Real Sociedad but based on their results in Europe and their domestic leagues, both teams have had a somewhat strong start to the season.