Europa Conference League stats dive: alternative stars of Matchday 5

UEFA.com has a treasure trove of statistics covering many aspects of play to enhance the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's newest club competition.

In this piece presented by Swissquote, we sift through the Matchday 5 data to see who earned top billing across a number of match-defining metrics.

Most passes completed

92: Lasse Berg Johnsen (Randers)
83: Gara Garayev (Qarabağ)
83: Maksim Medvedev (Qarabağ)
82: Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham)
81: Bruno Martins Indi (AZ)

Lasse Berg Johnsen registered an impressive 91% pass completion rate from the middle of the park in Randers' 2-1 win against Cluj – their first victory of the campaign. Nine points behind, Qarabağ midfielder Gara Garayev and defender Maksim Medvedev made a successful 83 passes apiece, as the Azerbaijani outfit retained 66% possession in the 2-2 draw with Omonoia.

Crosses completed

5: Vladimír Weiss (Slovan Bratislava)
5: Maximilian Wittek (Vitesse)
4: Heung-min Son (Tottenham)
4: Christopher Opéri (Gent)

Of Maximilian Wittek’s five deliveries, it was his cross-cum-shot steered home by Thomas Buitink that kick-started the Dutch side’s recovery in their 3-3 draw at Rennes. Somewhat less fruitfully, Vladimír Weiss’ four deliveries came to nothing in Slovan’s goalless draw with PAOK. Heung-min Son’s pace and agility were called upon from the bench by ten-man Tottenham at Mura, though his efforts in the second half failed to prevent a shock Slovenian victory. Meanwhile, Gent failed to profit from Christopher Opéri’s input from left wing-back, losing 1-0 at Anorthosis.

Balls recovered

14: Andreas Hanche-Olsen (Gent)
14: Bogdan Planić (Maccabi Haifa)
13: Robin Knoche (Union Berlin)
13: Nayef Aguerd (Rennes)
13: Jens Stage (Copenhagen)

With the exception of the superb near-halfway strike that caused Gent to fall to Anorthosis, right-back Andreas Hanche-Olsen and Co had permitted the Cypriots just a single shot (off target) during the entire 90 minutes. Elsewhere, joint-top for ball recovery, Bogdan Planić anchored a Maccabi Haifa back line that held out for 66 minutes before Union Berlin eventually found a way through.

Clearances

12: Nayef Aguerd (Rennes)
11: Guram Kashia (Slovan Bratislava)
11: Paris Psaltis (Omonoia)
10: Franky Bagnack (Kairat)
9: Henrik Pürg (Flora)
9: Miro Tenho (HJK)

Centre-half Nayef Aguerd was on call to restrict Vitesse as they cranked up the pressure in search of a late winning goal at Rennes. Only one behind him – recording 11 clearances each – Guram Kashia’s efforts in a resolute Slovan defensive showing helped the Slovaks to a clean sheet versus PAOK, and Omonoia's Paris Psaltis put in a shift against a dominant Qarabağ side.

Most saves

7: Cristian Bălgrădean (CFR Cluj)
5: Dayle Coleing (Lincoln Red Imps)
5: Alfred Gomis (Rennes)
5: Francis Uzoho (Omonoia)
5: Dmytro Matsapura (Zorya Luhansk)

Cristian Bălgrădean had his work cut out as Randers peppered the Cluj goal in their 2-1 win over the Romanians; Randers racked up a whopping 23 attempts, forcing seven saves from the shot-stopper. Of the next best, Francis Uzoho gave the standout display, conceding just two goals – one an own goal turned in by Psaltis – in the 2-2 draw at Qarabağ.