UEFA Champions League: 2021/22 group stage in numbers
Saturday, January 1, 2022
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UEFA.com dissects the choice cuts as we review another season of landmarks in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
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1 Sheriff's Sébastien Thill became the first player from Luxembourg to score a goal in the Champions League era.
2 Sporting CP's Pedro Gonçalves scored twice in back-to-back group games against Beşiktaş and Dortmund – the only other Portuguese player to achieve that feat in the competition is Cristiano Ronaldo (seven times). The Portuguese club also achieved their biggest home (4-0) and away (4-1) wins in the Champions League in successive group matches against Beşiktaş.
3 Salzburg became the first Austrian team to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League, while there are three Austrian clubs still in European competition (LASK and Rapid Wien are in the UEFA Europa Conference League) going into the new year for the first time since 1983/84.
4 Club Brugge became the first side ever to concede four goals or more in four consecutive Champions League games.
5 Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in each of an English club's opening five matches in a European Cup/Champions League campaign. On the other side of town, Manchester City finished top of their group for the fifth consecutive season – they are just the second English side to do so in the competition's current format after United (2006/07–2010/11).
6 Liverpool became the first English club to win all six of their games in a single Champions League group stage.
7 LOSC Lille finished top of their group for the first time in their seven participations in the group stage.
8 Bayern's Thomas Müller became the eighth player to score 50 Champions League goals, and the first German in the history of the competition.
9 On Matchday 5, Robert Lewandowski scored in a ninth successive Champions League appearance, becoming the first player to have done so on more than one occasion. This is also the tenth successive campaign in which he has scored five goals or more.
10 Liverpool, Ajax and Bayern all finished the group stage with a maximum 18 points, taking the number of times the feat has been achieved to ten – Milan, Paris, Spartak Moskva, Barcelona, Real Madrid (twice) and Bayern were the previous teams to manage it.
11 The four English teams won their first 11 home games combined in the group stage, scoring 33 goals in the process, with Manchester United's 1-1 draw against Young Boys on Matchday 6 denying them a clean sweep.
12 LOSC Lille, Salzburg, Sevilla and Wolfsburg were all in contention to qualify from Group G going into their final fixture. The last time there were no eliminations or qualifiers from a section after Matchday 5 was 12 years ago (Barcelona, Inter, Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kyiv). LOSC's 1-0 win against Salzburg on Matchday 5 also ended their run of 12 home matches in the group stage without a victory – their previous success was 3-1 versus AEK Athens in the 2006/07 season.
17 On Matchday 2, Karim Benzema and Lionel Messi became the first players to score in 17 successive Champions League seasons.
18 Bayern have won their opening game in their last 18 Champions League campaigns, scoring 45 goals and conceding only two.
19 For the second time in three seasons, Bayern finished the group stage with 18 points and +19 goal difference – no other side has ever bettered that combination.
20 Kylian Mbappé marked his 50th Champions League game by becoming the 11th player to score 20 away goals in the competition. However, by reaching the total in just 23 matches, he did so in fewer games than any of the previous ten men.
21 You have to go back 21 campaigns – to the 2000/01 season – for the last time Barcelona failed to successfully qualify from their group. Their tally of two goals was also at least five fewer than in any of their other group stage bids.
22 Bayern were the top scorers in the group stage with 22 goals, and they also extended their record unbeaten streak in Champions League away games to 21 matches.
27 Of all the Champions League goals scored by Iranian players, 27% have come against Chelsea (four out of 15) – Ali Daei (two) for Hertha Berlin in 1999, Mehdi Taremi for Porto and Sardar Azmoun for Zenit in 2021.
29 Sébastien Haller became the first player to score four goals on his Champions League debut since Marco van Basten for Milan against IFK Göteborg in 1992 – 29 seasons ago. Haller also became the first player to strike nine times in his first five Champions League appearances, the fourth to net in his first five games in the competition, the second to score in all six group matches, and the fastest to ten Champions League goals (six games).
30 Kylian Mbappé scored his 30th Champions League goal on Matchday 6. He became the youngest player to reach this milestone in the competition's history at the age of 22 years and 352 days, taking the record from Lionel Messi (23 years and 131 days).
36 By scoring against Salzburg on Matchday 2, Burak Yılmaz became the oldest Turkish goalscorer in the competition at the age of 36 years and 76 days. He extended that record by 70 days on Matchday 6.
38 On Matchday 6, Club Brugge became the 38th different side Lionel Messi has scored against in the Champions League, equalling the record of Cristiano Ronaldo.
50 Ajax became only the second Dutch side to win their first five games of the season in the competition, 50 years after Feyenoord's strong start in 1971/72. Their Matchday 5 success also ensured they topped their group for the first time since 1995/96 – the season they last reached the final.
59 There were 59 goals scored on Matchday 3 – a total only surpassed on one other matchday in the current format of the competition (62 on Matchday 3 in 2020/21).
63 Juventus' 4-0 defeat at Chelsea was their biggest loss in the competition since a 7-0 reverse against Wiener Sport-Club in the 1958/59 preliminary round – 63 years ago.
76 Dynamo Kyiv's Mircea Lucescu extended his record as the oldest coach to take charge of a team in the Champions League. He was 76 years and 132 days old on Matchday 6.
82 Timo Werner's goal against Zenit after 82 seconds was the fastest ever scored by Chelsea in the Champions League, and the earliest the Russian side have conceded in the competition.
117 Inter registered more shots than any other side in the group stage, racking up 117 across their six games.
125 Bayern's Manuel Neuer made his 125th Champions League appearance on Matchday 6, taking him past Gianluigi Buffon into second place on the list of most appearances by goalkeepers in the competition's history behind Iker Casillas (177).
181 Cristiano Ronaldo reached 181 Champions League appearances in this group stage, replacing Iker Casillas at the top of the all-time list. He also took his competition record goal tally to 140.
297 There were 297 goals scored during the entire group stage, an average of 3.1 goals per match.
Statistics do not include qualifying unless stated.