Football
Anirudh Menon 2y

UCL stats: Ronaldo 38, 42 - Messi 37, 39; Griezmann's unique first

Matchday three of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League saw Cristiano Ronaldo score late as Manchester United came from behind to win at home (3-2 vs. Atalanta). Lionel Messi scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to win at home (3-2 vs. RB Leipzig). Elsewhere, Chelsea, Ajax and Bayern Munich put 4 past Malmo, Borussia Dortmund (!) and Benfica respectively, while Real Madrid and Manchester City hammered in 5 against Shakhtar Donetsk and Club Brugge respectively. Oh, and Barcelona finally won a match in Europe (their first in five). Yeah, this matchday had everything and By The Numbers is here to bring you the best numbers from all the action --

1

On Tuesday, Liverpool rocked up to the Metropolitano and beat Atletico Madrid 3-2. This was their first win in 5 all-time UCL meetings vs. Atletico (W1, D2, L2). It also ended a 5-game winless streak in UCL away games vs. Spanish clubs for Liverpool (It was their first win since 2009 at Real Madrid).

1

Antoine Griezmann is the first player in UCL history to score twice and be sent off. The goals were superbly taken and the red card offence was even more spectacular.

2

Bayern Munich are just the second team to open a season with 3 wins and a +12-or-better goal difference in the UCL era (after PSG 2017-18).

5+

This is a quite ridiculous stat. Manchester City have scored 5+ goals in a game 40 times since Pep Guardiola took over, which is as many as the second and third-most combined in English football during this time (21 - Liverpool, 19 - Spurs).

8

Bruno Fernandes created eight chances against Atalanta tonight, the most by a Manchester United player on record in a single CL game (since 2003-04).

9

Mohamed Salah is the first player in Liverpool history to score in 9 straight matches for the club.

12

Manchester United have failed to keep a clean sheet in 12 consecutive home games in all competitions, their longest such run since February 1964 (13).

Read these three stats together, and it makes for a tasty Sunday, doesn't it?

16

Gerard Pique has equalled Roberto Carlos as the UCL's highest scoring defender of all time, with 16 goals. At 34 years, 260 days old, he has also become Barcelona's oldest scorer in the competition.

19

Here's a quirky fact -- At 19 years old on Wednesday, Villarreal's Yeremi Pino has become the youngest player to score on his birthday in UCL history. It was the opener in his team's comfortable 4-1 win at Young Boys.

20

Bayern Munich are a machine. They are the first team in UCL history to go unbeaten in 20 straight away UCL games

59

Only two matchdays in UCL history have seen more goals than this one (59) -- Matchday 1 of the 2000/01 season saw 63 goals scored, Matchday 3 in 2020/21 saw 62.

200

Robert Lewandowski has now scored 200 goals across all club competitions since the start of the 2017/18 season. He's played just 194 games. In fact, the 38 goals he has scored in 38 UCL games in the last 5 seasons are the most by any player in that span.

290

Another player who's in the form of his life is Karim Benzema. The Frenchman has now tied Carlos Santillana as the 4th highest goalscorer in Real Madrid history, with 290. The top 3? Alfredo di Stefano with 308, Raul Gonzalez with 323 and Cristiano Ronaldo with 450.

MESSI RONALDO WATCH

Another Champions League matchday, another Lionel Messi brace, another Cristiano Ronaldo record. They've made it all so... routine.

38

Ronaldo has now scored against 38 different opponents in the UCL, breaking a tie with Messi (who else) for most in competition history. Benzema is third with 34.

42

Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 42 game winners in the UCL, the most by any player and 3 more such goals than Lionel Messi in 2nd place.

187

This was Ronaldo's 187th appearance in a UEFA club competition. He is 1 appearance away from tying former teammate Iker Casillas for the most all-time (this includes Champions League, Champions League qualifying rounds, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cups).

(Stats courtesy ESPN's Stats & Information Group)

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