The Champions League quarter-finals first leg did not disappoint. It had plenty of thrills and spills with Barcelona and Bayern securing hard-fought victories over Atletico Madrid and Benfica respectively. Real Madrid suffered a shock loss to Wolfsburg while PSG and Manchester City played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Paris.
Here are some of the best stats from the Champions League quarterfinals first leg:
11 – Torres opened the scoring against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and the Spaniard has now scored 11 goals against the Catalan side. More than any other team in his entire career.
30 – Torres also get sent off in the same match. Barcelona are the team which have had most rivals sent off in the Champions League with 30 players. Advantage.
4 – Torres became only the 4th person to score both a goal and get a red card in a Champions League knockout game. Others being Juninho, Manduca and Schweinsteiger.
One of two things which has never happened is going to happen in the second leg when Barcelona face Atletico Madrid :
13 – Atlético has lost 13 times in the 1st leg against Barcelona and has never gone through.
8 – Atletico Madrid have always gone through when they have lost 2-1 away in the first leg of European competitions. Comeback
Bayern need to be wary of a spirited Benfica side in the second leg.
6 – Bayern Munich have scored more goals in the first two minutes of the Champions League than any other team in history. Vidal scored in the second minute.
3 – Benfica have progressed the last 3 times when losing the 1st leg away of a knockout-round in European Competitions. Attention
Real Madrid’s loss to Wolfsburg also threw out some interesting stats.
738 – Keylor Navas conceded a goal in the Champions League after an incredible 738 minutes. He is however still second on the list behind Jens Lehmann who did not concede in 853 minutes.
0 – Real Madrid have failed to score in an away game for the first time with Zinedine Zidane as manager (all comps). Suffocation.
Real Madrid have a really tough task in the second leg.
8 – Real Madrid have been knocked out in the last eight of the Champions League knockout rounds in which they lost in the first leg. Disappointment.
4 – The last 4 times Real Madrid conceded 2 goals in the first half in CL, they played against German teams. Fear.
Manchester City scored 2 vital away goals in their 2-2 draw against PSG.
13 – 13 out of 14 English teams have gone through after a 2-2 away draw in the first leg. The only team which failed was Aston Villa against Spartak in 1983.
3 – The last three CL knockout encounters between Ligue 1 and Premier League clubs have seen the French team progress each time. Rivalry.
12 – David Luiz became the fastest person to be booked in Champions League history when he got a yellow card after just 12 seconds!
3 – Joe Hart saved Zlatan’s Ibrahimovic last night and the City shot-stopper has now stopped the last three penalties he has faced in the Champions League. Saviour.
Note: Stats have been taken from the Twitter accounts of MisterChiping, Opta Joe, Opta Jose and Opta Johan
