What a splendid UEFA Champions League matchday that was. Real Madrid were shocked at Lille, Atletico at home by Benfica. Juventus pulled out a stunning late win at Leipzig, while Aston Villa announced their return to the big stage with a win over Bayern Munich. Arsenal eased past Paris Saint-Germain, while Dortmund, Barcelona, Manchester City and Inter Milan were at their free scoring best.
ESPN's By The Numbers brings you the best of the mid-week stats from the UCL:
0.79
After his brace on Wednesday, Robert Lewandowski joins Lionel Messi as the players with the best goal-per-game ratio in UCL-era history (at least 50 goals scored). Just behind them are Cristiano Ronaldo (0.77) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (0.77). A bit further behind Karim Benzema (0.59) rounds up the top 5.
1
This is the first UCL pre-knockout round match Bayern Munich have lost since 2017 (that was a 3-0 loss at PSG, managed by... Unai Emery, of course). They were 37(W)-4(D)-0(L) in their previous 41 UCL pre-KO Round matches.
3
The list of coaches who have beaten Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, and Carlo Ancelotti in European competition is a very short one: Diego Simeone, Jurgen Klopp, and now... Bruno Genesio of Lille.
3
This is the first time in UCL history that three Spanish sides have lost their games in a single day (Girona, Atletico Madrid, and Real Madrid on Wednesday).
3
Girona are now a part of another unfortunate record: After just two games, they have already equalled the record for most own goals conceded in a single UCL campaign (3, same as Fenerbahce in 2007-08).
5
Jhon Duran's 5 goals off the bench this season is the most by any player from Europe's top 5 leagues (all competitions). Definition of super-sub.
5
Mohamed Salah is the third player to score in five consecutive UCL home games for a Premier League side; after Thierry Henry with Arsenal (7) and Ruud van Nistelrooy with Manchester United (6).
6
A slightly nerdier record, but a good one if you're looking for a pub quiz stat -- Jeremy Doku had 26 touches in the opposition box against Slovan Bratislava, the most ever by a player on record (since 2008-09) in a UCL game.
8+6
Playing against Shakthar Donetsk, Lazar Samardzic of Atalanta became the first player to complete at least eight dribbles and create at least six chances in a UCL game since Lionel Messi in October 2019 with Barcelona against Inter.
10
Barcelona's 5-0 defeat of Young Boys was the club's tenth victory of 5+ goals with a clean sheet in its UCL history. That ties Bayern Munich for the most such victories in UCL history (no other team has more than 6).
21
Meanwhile, Man City's 4-0 win over Bratislava was Pep Guardiola's 21st victory by 4+ goals and a clean sheet in the UCL. This is such an impressive number because only Carlo Ancelotti (11) and Jose Mourinho (10) have at least 10 such UCL wins.
14
This is Lewandowski's 14th UCL season with a goal, that's the seventh-most in the UCL-era after Messi (18), Benzema (18), C. Ronaldo (16), Ryan Giggs (16), Thomas Muller (15), and Raul (15).
17
Arsenal have kept 17 clean sheets in 32 games in all competitions in 2024, the most of any Premier League side. In fact, across Europe's big-five leagues this calendar year, only Real Madrid have kept more (18).
18, 73
Endrick is now Real Madrid's youngest (18 years, 73 days) starter in the UCL era, a record previously held by the great Raul (who had been 18y, 78 days on UCL debut).
36
Real Madrid's 36-game unbeaten streak in all competitions (24-12-0 W-D-L) has now ended. This was the club's longest unbeaten streak in all competitions since a run of 40 from April 2016 to January 2017 (under Zinedine Zidane).
Also, this is the first time Madrid have been prevented from scoring in a UCL pre-knockout round match since a 2-0 loss against Shakhtar Donetsk (Dec, 2020)
42
Erling Haaland's pursuit of yet another record remains strong. He scored his 42nd career UCL goal to take him 1 away from tying Kylian Mbappe for the second-most by a player before turning 25 (Haaland turns 25 in July next year). The record, of course, is Messi's - who had 51.
51
Speaking of 51, Lewandowski now has 51 UCL goals after turning 30, the second player to cross the 50-goal mark after turning 30 after... Ronaldo (who hit 68).
Lewandowski is also just four goals away from joining Ronaldo and Messi in the 100-UCL-goal club (he has 96, Messi 129, Ronaldo 140).
(Stats Courtesy: ESPN Stats and Information Group)