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HAIFA, Israel — Benfica has recorded its best group-stage campaign in the Champions League by routing Maccabi Haifa 6-1. João Mário's long-range strike in stoppage time helped to seal a helpful first place for Benfica in its group on Wednesday. The result gave the Portuguese side 14 points from six matches. That's two points more than its previous best campaign 11 years ago. It also was enough to give Benfica first place in Group H ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, which won at Juventus but finished behind Benfica on away goals scored overall. The group winners are drawn with the second-place finishers in the round of 16. That means Benfica will avoid teams like Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.







