Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Manchester United lost at Young Boys, Lionel Messi didn't as PSG drew with Club Brugge. Sheriff Tiraspol top a group that contains Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Bayern Munich swatted Barcelona aside. Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool all ended up winners by a single goal margin, while Ajax and Manchester City ran up tennis scores.
The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League has gotten off to a stunner! By the Numbers brings you the best stats from a cracking Matchday 1 -
2
Manchester United attempted 2 shots on Tuesday (both Ronaldo, the last of them coming in the 25th minute). That's their fewest in a UCL game since 2010-11.
4
Christopher Nkunku (RBL) is the 4th player to score a hat trick in a UCL match for the losing team after Irfan Can Kahveci for Istanbul Basaksehir, Gareth Bale for Tottenham and Ronaldo Nazario for Real Madrid. He is, though, the only one to have lost that particular game by 3 or more goals.
13%
Manchester United have lost seven of their 11 UCL matches under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In fact, 13% of their total defeats in the competition have come under Solskjaer (7/54) - this despite the fact that he has been in charge for only 4.8% of their matches (11/231).
18
Robert Lewandowski is inevitable. He has extended his scoring streak in all club competitions to 18 matches - he's scored 28 goals during this streak.
In fact, since 2019-20, he has scored 113 goals in 93 (club) games. That's easily the most for a player in a top five European league (Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo tied 2nd with 76).
18 years 78 days
Jude Bellingham is the youngest player to score in consecutive UCL matches, narrowly breaking Mbappe's record (18years, 85 days in March 2017).
29 years 299 days
In sharp contrast, Sevilla's starting XI vs. Salzburg had an average age of 29y 299d, the oldest starting XI in UCL history.
42.9 %
Real Madrid's Rodrygo has scored 6 UCL goals, and he's done that with just 14 shots. His 42.9% shot conversion rate is the highest in the competition since 2010-11 (min. 5 goals). Erling Haaland is second at 41.2%.
63
Speaking of Haaland, the goal-machine averages a goal every 63 minutes in the UCL, the best goals per minute ratio in the history of the competition among all players with at least 20 UCL goals.
MESSI RONALDO WATCH
36
Young Boys is the 36th different team that Cristiano Ronaldo has scored against in the UEFA Champions League. That is tied with Lionel Messi for most opponents faced with a goal in UCL history.
63
In 68 Champions League appearances since turning 30, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 63 goals - 35 more than any other player has scored aged 30 or older in Champions League history. In fact, the only people in UCL history who have scored more overall are - Raul and Karim Benzema (71), Ronaldo himself before he turned 30 (72), Robert Lewandowski (73) and Lionel Messi (120).
150
Lionel Messi is the 4th player to make 150+ UEFA Champions League appearances after Iker Casillas, Ronaldo, and Xavi.
177
In fact, with his 177th appearance, Ronaldo has tied Iker Casillas for the most appearances in UEFA Champions League history.
(Stats courtesy ESPN's Stats & Information Group)