The UEFA Champions League began 2025 with plenty of goals and surprise results, as the action heated up in the penultimate round of league stage action.
Liverpool confirmed their spot in the top 8 of the league phase with a comfortable win over Lille, while Barcelona and Benfica played out a see-saw contest that saw Raphinha score a late winner. Manchester City's 2-4 loss to PSG meant nothing less than a win on the final day will do for Pep Guardiola's men, while the likes of Arsenal and Real Madrid strolled to victories. Borussia Dortmund's loss saw Nuri Sahin sacked while Feyenoord stunned Bayern Munich with a 3-0 win.
ESPN's By The Numbers brings you the best of the mid-week stats from the UCL:
100
Vinícius Jr. became the second Brazilian to score 100 goals for Real Madrid after Ronaldo Názario (104). Overall, he's the 23rd player in club history to score 100 goals.
51
Kylian Mbappé scored the 51st UCL goal of his career, overtaking Thierry Henry for the second-most UCL goals by a Frenchman. Karim Benzema leads the way with 90 UCL goals.
24
Jude Bellingham has been involved in 24 goals in the Champions League (11 goals, 13 assists), as many as Lionel Messi was when aged 21 or younger (17G, 7A). Only Kylian Mbappé (37) and Erling Haaland (26) were involved in more before turning 22.
1 and 3
The 5-4 scoreline between Barcelona and Benfica was the first-ever UCL game to end with that score. Barcelona also became only the third club in the last 15 seasons to win a UCL game in which it trailed by 2+ goals in the last 15 minutes. This was Barca's first two-goal comeback win in any competition since Sept. 23, 2023 vs Celta Vigo in LALIGA (in which they also scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes)
Johan Cruyff with a quote that was fulfilled yesterday �� pic.twitter.com/4mK8xaWX5a
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 22, 2025
19 and 27
Robert Lewandowski scored his 19th UCL goal from the penalty spot, tying Cristiano Ronaldo's record, while going past Lionel Messi (18). The Polish striker now has 27 goals in 29 games in all competitions this season, surpassing his goal tally from last season (26 goals in 49 games)
1
The 2-4 loss to PSG was Manchester City's first loss after leading by 2 goals since May 2021 vs Brighton. It was also the first time under Pep Guardiola that the club lost a game by 2 goals after having led by 2 goals.
4
Manchester City have lost four games they have led this season - which is already their worst ever record under Pep Guardiola.
2
Jack Grealish scored his second career UCL goal against PSG (first since his debut in the competition in 2021). He ended a 31-game scoreless streak in the competition, which was tied for the fifth-longest in club history by an outfield player.
PSG HAVE JUST COME BACK FROM 2-0 DOWN TO LEAD 3-2 OVER MAN CITY!
MAN CITY NOW SIT IN THE ELIMINATION ZONE WITH ONE MATCH LEFT �� pic.twitter.com/XXdiLRSo2t
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 22, 2025
2
Arne Slot became only the second head coach in UEFA Champions League history to win his first 7 games in charge of a club, after Hansi Flick with Bayern Munich (won first 7 between 2019-2021).
50
Mo Salah scored his 50th European goal for Liverpool (44 in UCL), having scored 11 goals in Europe for his previous clubs.
22
Mohamed Salah has 22 goals in all competitions this season, tying Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Manchester City's Erling Haaland for the 2nd-most among players in Europe's Top 5 Leagues. Only Barcelona's Robert Lewandoski has more this season with 27
2
Declan Rice's goal in the second minute was the earliest by an Arsenal player in the UCL since Yaya Sanogo in 2014 vs Dortmund (also second minute). The only times Arsenal scored in the opening minute of an UCL game was in 2002 (Gilberto Silva) and 2013 (Jack Wilshere).
14
Inter Milan's all-time top-scorer in the UEFA Champions League is now Lautaro Martinez, who is level with Adriano on 14 goals for the Serie A giants.
1
Inter Milan have only conceded once in seven UCL games this season, the least in the competition.
4
Borussia Dortmund run of four consecutive losses in all competitions was the club's worst since losing 6 straight in March-April 2000.
5
Celtic's 5-game unbeaten run is the club's best in UEFA Champions League history.
2
Santiago Giménez scored multiple goals in a single UCL game for only the second time in his career. He's one away from tying Javier Hernández (3) for most such games by a Mexican in the competition's history. Carlos Vela and Raúl Jiménez each had 1 brace.
Information from ESPN's Global Sports Research contributed to this report.