By the numbers: Scoring savant Liverpool leads the way
If Tuesday’s Champions League slate was short on attacking, Wednesday’s offerings were blessed by a litany of tallies as 33 goals were bagged across eight group-stage finales.
Seven-goal Liverpool was unplayable, Porto put a five-spot on slumping Monaco, and Roberto Firmino and Cristiano Ronaldo set individual standards for proficiency in front of goal.
Naturally, it was a matchday rife with compelling statistics, and here’s a look at a baker’s dozen from an unrelentingly exciting day on the continent.
1: Gabriel Jesus finally lost his first competitive match for Manchester City courtesy of the shock 2-1 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk.
3: Philippe Coutinho’s hat-trick was his first treble for Liverpool since joining the Merseyside club from Inter in 2013.
4: For the first time since 2006-07, four English clubs won their respective Champions League groups.
5: By virtue of Liverpool’s victory over a lifeless Spartak Moscow, the Reds join Tottenham, City, Manchester United, and Chelsea in the last-16, marking the first time five clubs from the same country have made the knockouts.
6: Dental deity Firmino’s six goals at this stage is a new Liverpool record.
12: Feyenoord’s late victory over Napoli ended a streak of a dozen Champions League defeats on the bounce for the Eredivisie holder.
16: Tottenham recorded 16 points in winning Group H, matching a record for English clubs with Arsenal (2005-06 – eventual runner-up) and Manchester United (2007-08 – eventual winner)
23: Yes, Liverpool again – but the 23 goals Jurgen Klopp’s lot scored in the group stage sets a Champions League standard for English sides, and is second all-time to Paris Saint-Germain’s record 25.
100: Pep Guardiola became the sixth manager to register a century of tilts in the competition, joining Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, and Mircea Lucescu.
306: The 2017-18 group stage set a record with 306 goals scored.
1470: Alvaro Negredo’s penalty for Besiktas was his first Champions League goal in 1,470 days, with the last coming for Man City against Viktoria Plzen in 2013.
6 for 6: Real Madrid’s Ronaldo became the first player to score in all six group games matches in the tournament’s history.
17, 192: City teen talent Phil Foden became the youngest English player (17 years, 192 days) to start a Champions League match, and is the youngest of any nationality to line up from kickoff for an English club since Cesc Fabregas did so for Arsenal in 2004.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
