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          Messi's 700, Ronaldo's 10/10; De Gea, Mbappe and Haaland claim records: Stats

          Aurelien Meunier - PSG/PSG via Getty Images
          • Sunaadh Sagar
          Feb 27, 2023, 01:45 AM

          Title races across Europe continued to intrigue as some top-of-the-table clashes proved pivotal. However, it was status quo in the Premier League as Arsenal and Manchester City both picked up wins, while Tottenham Hotspur compounded Chelsea's misery with a 2-0 win. Manchester United saw off Newcastle United to win the Carabao Cup, with both teams keeping their spot in the league table. Real Madrid dropped points in their 1-1 draw against 10-man Atletico Madrid, but Barcelona failed to capitalize, losing to Almeria and watching their lead atop LaLiga trimmed to seven points.

          An eighteen-point lead opened up in Serie A with Napoli defeating Empoli, while Inter lost to Bologna. AC Milan's 2-0 win over Atalanta saw them welcome back Zlatan Ibrahimovic, while also leapfrogging AS Roma in the table. The three-way tie at the top in the Bundesliga disappeared quite quickly as Bayern Munich made short work of Union Berlin with a 3-0 win, while Borussia Dortmund kept pace with a win of their own. PSG blew Marseille away in Le Classique, allowing them to open an eight-point gap at the top of Ligue 1.

          By The Numbers has the best stats from the weekend action:

          PREMIER LEAGUE

          12

          Erling Haaland is now 3 goals away from recording the 12th 30-goal season in Premier League history (would be first since 2017-18, when Harry Kane scored 30 and Mo Salah netted 32)

          0

          Chelsea are one of three teams that have not beaten a current Top-10 team from the Premier League table this season (Crystal Palace and Bournemouth are the others). The club have only won two of their last fifteen games, going back to November 3rd.

          3/11 and 36

          Liverpool's 36 points are their fewest through 23 games played in a Premier League season since 2015-16 (34)... which was also when Jurgen Klopp took over mid-season. They have only won three of their last eleven games in all competitions.

          CARABAO CUP

          1

          Marcus Rashford has been credited with Manchester United's second goal in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, making it the first time he has scored or assisted in a final for Manchester United in seven attempts. It also made him the Carabao Cup's top-scorer this season, with Rashford scoring in every round.

          180 or 181

          David de Gea is now undisputed as the Manchester United goalkeeper with the most clean sheets for the club (which had some disparity, outlined here), overtaking Peter Schmeichel's record of 180 (or 178) clean sheets.

          92.86% and 21

          Casemiro has played in 14 finals in his club career and won 13 of them - a staggering 92.86% win rate. He also lifted his 21st trophy for club and country at the senior level, commemorating the occasion with his fourth goal in his last 12 games, one more than he'd scored in his previous 89 matches. This also was his third career goal in finals since he began playing in Europe. He previously scored in the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League final vs Juventus and 2017 UEFA Super Cup vs Manchester United (both with Real Madrid).

          9

          Newcastle United have a terrible record at Wembley, losing their last nine games there - going back to the 1974 FA Cup final - the worst of any team at the venue.

          LALIGA

          18y 226d

          At 18 years, 226 days, Alvaro Rodríguez became the youngest player to score in El Derbi between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid in LaLiga this century, surpassing Gonzalo Higuaín's previous record set in 2007 (19 years and 76 days).

          10

          Alvaro Rodriguez scored 10 minutes into his Real Madrid debut, joining a select list of players who needed the fewest minutes to score their first goal for Real Madrid this century - Ronaldo Nazario (1), Rodrygo (1), David Beckham (2), Eduardo Camavinga (6).

          37 and 18

          Real Madrid's oldest player (Luka Modric - 37 years) and second-youngest player (Alvaro Rodriguez - 18) came off the bench and contributed to the game-tying goal.

          13 and 7

          Barcelona's loss ended a streak of 7 LaLiga wins and 13 unbeaten game. It was only their second league loss of the season - their first since Oct 16, away to Real Madrid. Three out of Barca's next six games are against Real Madrid.

          1

          Barcelona ended their loss to Almeria with only one shot on goal, their smallest tally this season and fewest in LaLiga since May 15, 2022 vs Getafe (0-0 draw).

          7/8

          Seven of the eight goals Barcelona have conceded this season have been in away games.

          SERIE A

          41y 146d

          Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his first appearance for AC Milan since May 22, 2022 (281 days ago). At the age of 41 years and 146 days, Ibrahimovic is the oldest player to play for Milan in 30 years.

          3

          AC Millan have benefitted from 3 own goals this season in Serie A, the most of any team. In Europe's top 5 leagues, only Marseille, Liverpool and Brighton have more.

          BUNDESLIGA

          4

          Julian Brandt has scored in his last 4 Bundesliga games - his longest streak of scoring in Bundesliga games since 2016 with Bayer Leverkusen (6).

          7

          Borussia Dortmund won their seventh Bundesliga match in 2023, equalling a club record for the most wins at the start of a calendar year set in 2012 - when they went on to win the Bundesliga title.

          18

          Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting scored against Union Berlin for the first time in his Bundesliga career, and has now scored against all eighteen teams in the German top-flight.

          100

          Bayern Munich are the first team from Europe's Top 5 leagues to score a hundred goals in all competitions this season.

          LIGUE 1

          200

          Kylian Mbappe scored his 200th career goal for PSG, tying Edinson Cavani for most in club history.

          2.7

          Gianluigi Donnarumma managed to prevent Marseille from scoring from 19 shots totalling 2.7xG, the Italian's best performance in the PSG goal since joining.

          MESSI-RONALDO WATCH

          A goalfest for both legends, with Lionel Messi scoring in PSG's win over Marseille, while Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick for Al Nassr.

          700

          Lionel Messi scored his 700th career club goal, which was also his 18th in Ligue 1. Curiously enough, six of those (33%) have been assisted by Mbappe, with Neymar managing to assist three.

          996, 798 and 296

          Aside from scoring his 700th career club goal, Messi is nearing other milestones - Goal Contributions (club): 996, Career Goals (club and country): 798, Career Assists (club): 296

          8

          Cristiano Ronaldo's 8 goals are his most in the first 5 league games after joining any club. His previous high was 5 with Real Madrid in the 2009-10 season. His hat trick in the first half of the game was the 6th time he had done so in his career (club or country). Ronaldo's most recent first-half hat trick had been March 2021 with Juventus.

          10/10

          Ronaldo has been involved in all 10 of Al Nassr's most recent goals, scoring eight and assisting twice.

          (Stats courtesy: ESPN Stats and Information Group)