With the current football season being one of the most dramatic yet, there has been no shortage of unbelievable feats as Leicester City top the English Premier League and the trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar (aka MSN) continue to break records everywhere. In order to celebrate what can only be described as silly season, we decided to find six insane stats that you will struggle to believe.
#1 Messi, Suarez and Neymar have scored more goals this season than nearly every club in Europe
The MSN has continued to strike fear into the hearts of defenders everywhere this season and just recently became the first Barcelona trio to score 27 goals each in the same season. But the fact that the three players are actually scoring more goals than other big European clubs is mindblowing.
With Suarez sitting on 43 goals, Messi on 37 and Neymar 27, the trio have scored an unbelievable 107 goals across all competitions, while Bayern Munich have scored 92 goals and Arsenal 68. In fact, the three forwards have scored nearly as many goals as Borussia Dortmund, who have hit the back of the net 113 times this season and are second only to Barcelona in terms of total goals scored.
The trio has also scored nearly as many goals as bitter rivals Real Madrid, who are ranked third in Europe with 113 goals. In what is possibly the most unbelievable statistic of them all, the three have actually outscored every club in Europe bar Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, with the latter sitting on 109 goals. Absolutely mindblowing.
| # | Club | Goals scored |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 113 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 113 | |
| 3 | Paris Saint-Germain | 109 |
| 4 | MSN | 107 |
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo could play nine more seasons without scoring a goal and still have a better goals-to-game ratio than Raúl
We all know Ronaldo is capable of some extraordinary feats having scored more than 40 goals in six consecutive seasons for Real Madrid. But the three-time FIFA Ballon d’Or winner has one particular statistic under his belt that is genuinely hard to believe.
Having overtaken Los Blancos legend Raul’s goalscoring record last October, Ronaldo could play more than nine seasons without scoring a goal and still match Raúl’s goal scoring record. With 354 goals in 338 games, Ronaldo absolutely destroyed Raul’s milestone of 323 goals in 741 games.
Despite the fact that Raúl is considered one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, Ronaldo could play until the age of 39 (or 474 more games) without scoring and still maintain his record. A truly astonishing statistic.
| # | Player | Seasons | Goals | Games | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 7* | 354 | 338 | 1.04 |
| 2 | Raul | 16 | 323 | 741 | 0.44 |
| 3 | Alfredo Di Stefano | 11 | 308 | 396 | 0.78 |
| 4 | Carlos Santillana | 17 | 289 | 645 | 0.45 |
| 5 | Ferenc Puskas | 8 | 242 | 262 | 0.92 |
#3 Borussia Dortmund have had their best season in history – but still remain second in the Bundesliga
When Jurgen Klopp was replaced by Tomas Tuchel, many Dortmund fans wondered if the club’s glory days of fighting Bayern Munich at the top were over. However, the club’s fans were pleasantly surprised when Tuchel’s Dortmund went on an 11-match winning streak that ended in September last year.
The club’s impressive match-winning record has continued into 2016, with Dortmund winning 26 points from a possible 30.
But despite having won more points after 27 games than ever before, the club still trails Bayern Munich who sit five points ahead of Dortmund on 69 points. Astonishingly, Dortmund have 20 wins and four draws from their last 27 matches, and the fact they still sit in second place really demonstrates the quality of Pep’s Bayern.
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 27 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 65 | 13 | 52 | 69 |
| 2 | Borussia Dortmund | 27 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 64 | 26 | 38 | 64 |
| 3 | Hertha Berlin | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 37 | 27 | 10 | 48 |
| 4 | Schalke | 27 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 39 | 35 | 4 | 44 |
#4 Lionel Messi has now won the same number of trophies in 11 years as Arsenal have in 60
With Barcelona winning the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan last December, Lionel Messi’s most recent addition to his trophy count means the Argentina captain has now won 26 trophies in the last 11 years – the same amount that Arsenal have won in 60.
The figures show both Messi and Arsenal have won 26 trophies in the last 60 years, with Messi winning seven league titles compared to Arsenal’s six.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has also won four Champions League trophies while Arsenal have failed to win any in the last 60 years. We all know Arsenal have struggled to win trophies in recent years, and we’re not sure if this absurd stat says more about the brilliance of Messi at Barcelona or the lack of quality at Arsenal.
#5 Second-placed Monaco are as close to the relegation zone as they are to table-toppers PSG
As PSG wrapped up the Ligue 1 title with eight games to go, the race is still on for second place and a guaranteed spot in the Champions League. But despite being the second best team in Ligue 1, Monaco are just as close to PSG in terms of points earned as they are to 18th placed GFC Ajaccio.
Sitting on 55 points, the cash-rich side recently beat PSG 2-0 at home but remain 22 points away from the league champions who currently sit on 77 points.
While second place in Ligue 1 is no mean feat considering the high quality of PSG, the fact that Monaca are also 22 points away from GFC Ajaccio, who sit in the relegation zone on 33 points, really shows the gap in quality between PSG and the rest of the league.
| # | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris St Germain | 31 | 77 |
| 2 | Monaco | 31 | 55 |
| 3 | Nice | 31 | 50 |
| 4 | Lyon | 31 | 49 |
| 5 | Rennes | 31 | 48 |
| 6 | Caen | 31 | 46 |
| 7 | St Etienne | 31 | 45 |
| 8 | Nantes | 31 | 44 |
| 9 | Lille | 31 | 43 |
| 10 | Angers | 31 | 42 |
| 11 | Bastia | 31 | 40 |
| 12 | Marseille | 31 | 39 |
| 13 | Lorient | 31 | 39 |
| 14 | Bordeaux | 31 | 39 |
| 15 | Guingamp | 31 | 38 |
| 16 | Montpellier | 31 | 36 |
| 17 | Reims | 31 | 33 |
| 18 | Gazelec Ajaccio | 31 | 33 |
| 19 | Toulouse | 31 | 26 |
| 20 | Troyes | 31 | 14 |
#6 Sevilla are yet to win an away game in La Liga or Europe this season
Going on Sevilla’s recent form in La Liga, you wouldn’t think much is going wrong for the club. The side has currently won 13 consecutive home game and sit sixth in the league table. They have also made it to the Europa League quarter-finals.
But one wonders where the club would be sitting if it wasn’t for their dire away form. Having now played 30 league games, the club has failed to register a single win away from home this season and are the only side in the division to do so.
With the Europa League coming up next month, we’re sure the club will look to improve on this damning statistic when they take on fellow Spanish club Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals.
Their final away games in La Liga this season? Valencia, Sporting Gijon, Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao on the final day of the season.
