In the early hours of Wednesday morning (13th), in UEFA Europa League Group D, Binfiga managed to overtake their rivals and take the third place in the group by defeating Salzburg with a score of 3-1 away from home, thus qualifying for the UEFA Europa League. In this match, 35-year-old veteran Di Maria was the center of attention, not only scoring a goal, but also delivering an assist, the most notable of which was a corner kick that flew directly into the opponent's goal, shocking the whole crowd.
Prior to the start of the match, Binfiga had only one draw and four losses in their five matches. However, they bounced back in this game and in the 32nd minute of the first half, Di Maria took a corner kick from the right with his left foot that curved inside and flew straight into the net. Immediately afterward, the Argentine star played the ball to Rafa Schwarz, who fired in his second goal to make it 2-0.
In the second half, Salzburg once trailed the score to 1-2, but in the extra time, Benfica's striker Kabir locked the score to 3-1. Despite the fact that the two teams had the same points, head-to-head results and goal difference in the group, Benfica managed to lock up the third place in the group by virtue of the total number of goals scored and advance to the Europa League. After the match, Di Maria said that his team had their backs against the wall and ended up playing a great performance, and that he was very happy to have progressed to the Europa League.
