FK Crvena Zvezda vs Benfica

Kerem Aktürkoğlu scored on what was his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League for Benfica, becoming the 11th different player to score on their debut in the competition for the club and the first since Henrique Araújo scored against Maccabi Haifa in November 2022.

Crvena Zvezda have now lost 10 of their last 11 UEFA Champions League matches and are winless in 11 (D1) since a 3-1 win against Olympiakos in the 2019/20 group stage. The Serbian outfit have also conceded 2+ goals in their last seven matches, conceding 17 goals – an average of 2.4 per match.

Orkun Kökçü and Kerem Aktürkoglu both scored tonight for Benfica, making it the first time in UEFA Champions League history that two different Turkish players have scored for a non-Turkish team in a single match.

Crvena Zvezda and Benfica met in the first round of 1984-85 European Cup, with the Portuguese side winning 4-3 on aggregate (lost 2-3 away, won 2-0 home).

In three previous home European matches against Portuguese opposition, Crvena Zvezda have never lost, winning 3-2 against Benfica in 1984 in the European Cup and drawing 0-0 and winning 2-1 against Sporting Braga in the 2005-06 UEFA Cup and 2021-22 UEFA Europa League respectively.

Since a run of six wins in eight matches between the group stages and last 16 of the 2022-23 campaign, Benfica have won just one of their last eight UEFA Champions League matches (D2 L5), although did win their most recent encounter 3-1 away at FC Salzburg in December last year.

This will be Crvena Zvezda’s fourth UEFA Champions League campaign, while only Malmo (83%) have a worse loss rate in the competition (78% - 14/18), among teams to partake in three or more editions.

Benfica have won their opening match in just one of their last seven UEFA Champions League seasons (D2 L4), beating Maccabi Haifa 2-0 in 2022-23.