UNBELIEVABLE! “8 UEFA Champions League Facts You Have Missed”

UEFA Champions League is the epitome of European football where all the best teams in Europe play against each other. Top clubs from England, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, Austria, Turkey and Germany compete with one another to win the best tournament in club football.

If any club wins the UEFA Champions League in a given season, then that team is considered to be the best team in Europe, as well as the world. There are 22 clubs that have won the Champions League trophy.

Real Madrid has won the most Champions League titles,13. Then comes AC Milan with 7, Liverpool and Bayern Munich with 6. Barcelona has won it 5 times, Ajax 4 times. Manchester United and Inter Milan have won the Cup 3 times each too.

Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Benfica, Porto and Juventus have won the trophy 2 times each. Whereas, Borussia Dortmund, Feyenoord, Aston Villa, Marseille, Hamburg, Crvena Zvezda, PSV, Celtic and FCSB have won 1 trophy each.

8 UEFA Champions League Facts You Have Missed:

1. Erling Haaland has now scored more goals (40) than he has played games (39) for Borussia Dortmund in all club competitions in 2021

Erling Haaland joined Borussia Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg in January,2020. Since joining the club, the Norwegian striker has been their top goal-scorer. The 21 year old wonderkid is regarded as the best young player in the world and has been scoring goals in the top division for fun.

Erling Haaland scored 28 goals in the Bundesliga, 8 goals in the Champions League and 3 in the DFB Pokal in just 39 games for the club in 2021. The wonderkid already has 20 goals in the Champions League in just 13 appearances in the competition and he’s just getting started.

The Norwegian is called a “robot” for his continuous goal-scoring ability and his work ethic. He is regarded as one of the favourites to win the Ballon D’or in these coming years.

2. For the first time in Champions League history, two teams (Liverpool and Ajax) have won 100% of their Group Stage games in the same campaign

Liverpool and Ajax have dominated the Champions League Group Stages. Both the teams have won their respective groups with a 100% win record and a maximum of 18 points, going undefeated.

Liverpool were in the so called “group of death” with AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and Porto. This group was considered to be the toughest one in this season’s Champions League and there were a few doubts regarding Liverpool and their chances of qualification into the next round. But they won all their games with an aggregate score of 17-6.

On the other hand, Ajax had a relatively easy group with Borussia Dortmund, Besiktas and Sporting Lisbon with them. The Dutch club were expected to go through to the next round but not many expected them to win all their matches and have a 100% win record.

Ajax won their games with an aggregate score of 20-5. The stand-out performers for both Liverpool and Ajax have been Mohamed Salah and Sebastian Haller respectively.

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3. There were 6 red cards in the Champions League yesterday, the joint-most ever on a single day of action in the competition

There were a total of 6 red cards shown yesterday in the Champions League, making it a historic day in the competition’s history.

Porto Vs Atletico Madrid saw 3 red cards with Porto goalkeeper Marchesin and defender Wendell getting sent off. Atletico Madrid also saw Yannick Carrasco getting sent off. It was a chaotic match but Atletico Madrid came out as 3-2 winners and qualified for the next round of the competition.

Borussia Dortmund Vs Besiktas also saw a red card with Besiktas defender Welinton getting sent off. The German side were already knocked out of the tournament along with Besiktas but they went on to win the last game of the Group Stages 5-0 and signed off with an impressive performance.

Manchester City Vs Red Bull Leipzig also saw a red card with Man City defender Kyle Walker getting sent off. The English club went on to lose the game 2-1 but were already confirmed to qualify for the next round of the competition.

Another game that saw a red card was Real Madrid Vs Inter Milan. The red card was shown to the Italian midfielder Nicolo Barella as Real Madrid cruised to a 2-0 victory and confirming their spot as group winners ahead of the already qualified Inter Milan.

4. Mohamed Salah has now scored more goals for Liverpool in a single group stage campaign than any other player in the club’s history

Mohamed Salah has been in amazing form this season and has already scored 20 goals for the campaign. 7 of those have come in the Champions League as he helped his team confirm top spot in their group and qualify for the next round.

In 2 matches against each opponent in his team’s group, Salah scored 2 goals against AC Milan, 3 goals against Porto and 2 goals against the current Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.

Salah broke the record that was set by his fellow teammate, Roberto Firmino in 2017/18 when Liverpool had reached the finals and lost to Real Madrid in dramatic circumstances.

5. Sebastian Haller is the first player in Champions League history to score in each of the first 6 games in the competition

Sebastian Haller left West Ham United for Ajax in 2021 and not many expected him to shine as much as he has this season. The Ivorian striker has already made history in the Champions League and he has already broken a record as well.

Haller has become just the 2nd player in the Champions League history to score in all the group stage games. The shocking part is that this is his 1st season the Champions League and he has already adapted to the high level by scoring 10 goals in just 6 games. The Ivorian is currently the top scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals and he will only go on and try to add more to his tally.

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6. Fikayo Tomori is the 1st English player to score a Champions League goal for AC Milan

There are only 6 English players who have played for the legendary Italian club AC Milan. Jimmy Greaves, David Beckham, Ray Wilkins, Luther Blissett, Mark Hateley and Fikayo Tomori are those who have played for the club.

Yesterday, Fikayo Tomori became the 1st English player to score a Champions League goal for AC Milan and surprisingly it came against another English club, Liverpool. The England defender was the only standout performer for his team as they went on to lose 2-1 to Liverpool.

AC Milan are knocked out of the tournament but the young England defender can certainly take pride in his performance and he surely has a great future ahead of him.

7. Kylian Mbappe is the youngest player in Champions League history to score 30+ goals in the competition

Kylian Mbappe has been on the rise ever since he made his debut for AS Monaco 5 years back. Since then, the French striker has gone on to win the League multiple times and has also played a crucial role in helping France win their first World Cup since 2002.

The French striker became the youngest player to reach 30 goals in Champions League history, breaking his teammate Lionel Messi’s record. Mbappe set the record when he scored his first goal of the night for Paris Saint-Germain against Club Brugge on Tuesday.

He eventually broke the record when he scored his 2nd goal of the night and achieved the feat at the age of 22 years and 352 days, while Messi had set the record at the age of 23 years and 131 days back in 2010.

8. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have both scored against 38 teams in the Champions League

When it comes to football, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the first names that come to anyone’s mind. They have completely changed the dynamic of football and are considered as the greatest players to play the game ever.

Both the players have broken numerous records in the Champions League with Ronaldo being the competition’s highest goal scorer while Messi holds the record for most goals scored for a single club in the competition’s history.

Both Ronaldo and Messi are currently the only players in the history of Champions League to have scored against 38 different teams. This record is very likely to get extended as both the players still have a few years left at the top. Their dominance in this competition and in football will never be matched for years to come.