Football
Sunaadh Sagar 2y

UCL Stats: Benzema ties Ronaldo's record, Real Madrid and Liverpool's historic firsts

What an incredible round of UEFA Champions League semifinals that was - Real Madrid produced the mother-of-all-comebacks, scoring twice in injury time to level the tie before Karim Benzema sealed things in extra time, defeating Manchester City 6-5 on aggregate.

Liverpool survived an almighty scare from Villarreal in the second leg to triumph 5-2 on aggregate, thus setting up a repeat of 2018's UEFA Champions League final, to be held on May 28th at the Stade de France in Paris. 

By The Numbers has the best stats from all the semifinals.

1

Real Madrid vs Liverpool is the only matchup to occur in 3 European Cup finals (Liverpool def. Real Madrid 1-0 in 1981; Real Madrid def. Liverpool 3-1 in 2018).

Liverpool are one of only three teams in history to beat Real Madrid in an European Cup final and the last ones to do so (1981, also in Paris).

1

Real Madrid is the first team in Champions League history to reach the final despite losing three games across the Round of 16, Quarterfinals and Semifinals.

5

Karim Benzema has scored in 5 straight UCL knockout stage games, tied with Edin Dzeko for the 2nd-longest streak in the last 12 seasons. Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record, scoring in six consecutive KO games for Real Madrid in 2012-2013.

7

Karim Benzema has scored seven UEFA Champions League goals against English teams this season; the most by a player in a single campaign in the competition's history. Looking ahead to the final against Liverpool, Benzema has scored four in his last five games against the Reds.

17

Real Madrid extended their record with a 17th European Cup final appearance (AC Milan, Bayern Munich are the next-closest with 11, Liverpool will make their 10th appearance). This is also their 8th final in the UCL era, since 1992-93.

1

This is the first time Real Madrid came from behind to win a European Cup semi-final after losing the first leg, home or away. They had been eliminated on all eight previous occasions entering Wednesday.

2

Rodrygo is the first player in UCL history to score in consecutive minutes of a semifinal or final game.

5

Carlo Ancelotti advances to his 5th UEFA Champions League Final appearance (2003, 2005, 2007 with AC Milan; 2014, 2022 with Real Madrid), thus breaking a tie for the most by a head coach in European Cup history. Jurgen Klopp, Sir Alex Ferguson, Marcelo Lippi and Miguel Munoz are all tied on 4 final appearances.

6

Pep Guardiola joins Jose Mourinho as the coach who has been eliminated the most times in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.

322

Karim Benzema is now just a goal shy of Raul's 323 goals for Real Madrid, second in the all-time top scorers list for the club. He'll have a fair way to go to beating the first, who is Cristiano Ronaldo with 450 (*451 according to Real Madrid).

2

Villarreal have been eliminated in both of their UCL Semifinal appearances by English clubs (also in 2005-06 vs Arsenal)

1

Liverpool are the first English team to reach 5 finals in the UCL era (since 1992-93)

1

Liverpool have become the first ever English club to reach the final of the European Cup/Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season

139

Liverpool have scored 139 goals in 57 games in all competitions in 2021-22, their highest ever total in a single season in their club history

(Stats courtesy ESPN's Stats & Information Group)

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