Liverpool hunt English record, Real Madrid on brink of scoring milestone – Champions League in Opta numbers

Real
Madrid
and
Inter
meet
in
a
battle
for
top
spot
in
Group
D,
with
both
already
qualified
as
the
Italian
side
travel
to
Spain
with
a
woeful
recent
record.

Manchester
City
and
Paris
Saint-Germain
are
already
through
in
Group
A
as
well,
with
Lionel
Messi
aiming
to
follow
in
the
footsteps
of
George
Weah
and
Neymar
at
home
to
Club
Brugge.

CL
FIXTURES
|

POINTS
TABLE

Stats
Perform
takes
a
look
at
the
key
Opta
data
behind
the
next
set
of
matches.

Milan
v
Liverpool:
Reds
eye
English
record

Milan
are
searching
for
their
first
win
against
an
English
side
in
Europe
since
February
2012,
while
the
Rossoneri
have
recorded
victory
in
just
one
of
their
past
nine
home
games
in
the
Champions
League
group
stage.

In
contrast,
Liverpool
have
triumphed
in
all
five
of
their
opening
games
this
season
as
they
look
to
become
the
first
English
side
to
win
all
six
of
their
group-stage
matches
in
a
single
campaign.

The
Reds
are
also
aiming
to
record
victories
in
six
consecutive
games
in
the
European
Cup/Champions
League
for
the
first
time
in
their
history,
with
Alisson
on
the
hunt
for
three
consecutive
clean
sheets
in
the
continental
competition
for
his
first
time.

Paris
Saint-Germain
v
Club
Brugge:
Mbappe
and
Messi
await
leaky
defence

Club
Brugge
were
defeated
by
five
goals
in
their
last
clash
against
RB
Leipzig,
the
third
consecutive
group
game
in
which
they
conceded
at
least
four
times.

No
team
has
ever
gone
four
straight
games
letting
in
at
least
four,
but
the
Belgians
will
have
to
negotiate
with
Messi,
who
could
become
just
the
third
player
–
after
Weah
in
1994
and
Neymar
in
2017
–
to
score
in
his
first
three
consecutive
home
games
for
PSG
in
the
competition.

The
visitors
will
also
have
to
contend
with
Kylian
Mbappe,
the
France
international
managing
five
goal
involvements
in
three
matches
against
Brugge
–
his
joint-most
against
a
single
opponent
in
the
competition,
along
with
Red
Star
and
Istanbul
Basaksehir.

RB
Leipzig
v
Manchester
City:
Guardiola’s
men
out
to
defend
German
record

City
are
unbeaten
in
their
previous
14
games
against
German
opposition,
including
a
six-game
undefeated
streak
on
the
road,
in
a
run
that
stretches
back
to
November
2014
in
the
Champions
League.

The
reigning
Premier
League
champions
have
won
their
past
nine
such
fixtures,
scoring
28
goals
and
conceding
just
nine
in
return,
while
Leipzig
are
winless
in
their
most
recent
three
meetings
with
English
sides.

If
Leipzig
fail
to
defeat
Pep
Guardiola’s
side,
it
will
be
the
first
time
they
have
not
registered
a
single
home
win
during
the
group
stages
in
Europe.

Real
Madrid
v
Inter:
Los
Blancos
looking
for
goalscoring
milestone

Inter
have
claimed
just
one
win
in
their
past
11
meetings
with
Spanish
opposition
in
European
competition
and
their
last
away
win
against
such
sides
came
all
the
way
back
in
October
2004.

The
Serie
A
outfit
have
not
beaten
Madrid
in
Europe
since
March
1967
as
Carlo
Ancelotti’s
side
look
to
score
their
1,000th
goal
in
the
European
Cup/Champions
League
in
just
their
455th
game.

Karim
Benzema
could
be
central
to
Madrid
hitting
that
milestone
if
he
is
passed
fit,
the
forward
already
with
five
group-stage
goals
to
his
name
this
term
as
he
sits
two
behind
Raul
in
the
club
charts
in
the
competition
(66).

Other
fixtures:

Ajax
v
Sporting
CP:

16
–
Ajax
have
scored
16
goals
in
their
five
games
in
the
Champions
League
this
season,
with
only
Bayern
Munich
(19)
and
Manchester
City
(17)
finding
the
net
more.

15
–
The
previous
three
meetings
between
Ajax
and
Sporting
have
seen
a
total
of
15
goals
scored,
at
an
average
of
five
goals
per
game.
Indeed,
neither
side
has
managed
to
keep
a
clean
sheet
in
any
of
their
three
clashes
to
date.

Borussia
Dortmund
v
Besiktas:

60
–
Jude
Bellingham
has
had
a
direct
hand
in
60
per
cent
of
Borussia
Dortmund’s
Champions
League
goals
this
season
(one
scored,
two
assisted),
with
the
last
Englishman
to
enjoy
more
than
three
goal
involvements
during
the
group
stages
of
a
season
before
the
age
of
19
being
Jack
Wilshere
in
2010-11
for
Arsenal
(one
scored,
three
assisted).

5
–
Besiktas
remain
the
only
Champions
League
side
in
2021-22
to
lose
all
five
of
their
matches
and
are
looking
to
avoid
being
the
first
team
since
AEK
Athens
in
2018-19
to
lose
each
of
their
six
group
games.

Porto
v
Atletico
Madrid:

5
–
Porto
will
be
aiming
to
qualify
for
the
knockout
stages
of
the
Champions
League
for
a
fifth
time
in
their
past
five
tournament
appearances
(2016-17,
2017-18,
2018-19
and
2020-21).
The
last
time
they
failed
to
do
so
was
in
2015-16
under
Julen
Lopetegui.

786
–
Luis
Suarez’s
only
goal
in
11
appearances
for
Atletico
Madrid
in
the
Champions
League
was
a
penalty
against
Milan
in
September,
giving
him
a
minutes-per-goal
ratio
of
786.
At
previous
club
Barcelona,
the
Uruguay
striker
scored
25
goals
in
55
appearances,
with
a
minutes-per-goal
ratio
of
192.

Shakhtar
Donetsk
v
Sheriff:

1
–
Shakhtar
Donetsk
have
only
won
one
of
their
past
11
home
games
in
the
Champions
League
(D5
L5),
while
they
have
failed
to
score
in
seven
of
the
games
in
this
run,
including
both
in
2021-22
(D1
L1).

25
–
Sheriff’s
2-0
victory
over
Shakhtar
in
this
season’s
tournament
came
despite
the
Moldovan
side
having
just
25
per
cent
possession
–
since
2003-04,
only
Atletico
(23)
versus
Barcelona
in
April
2016
have
won
a
Champions
League
game
by
multiple
goals
with
a
lower
possession
percentage.