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The top 5 European leagues produced some incredible action over the weekend as title races, as well as competition for continental football, intensified with some pivotal results.
Arsenal and Manchester City continued to set the pace at the top of the Premier League with routine victories. Chelsea continued their dismal run of form, losing 2-0 against at Spurs. Meanwhile, Liverpool dropped crucial points away at Selhurst Park at a time when Manchester United were out of action due to the EFL Cup final.
The title race in Spain got a lot more interesting. While Real Madrid dropped points in the Madrid Derby, Barcelona looked a lot worse in their defeat away to Almeria. There are some worrying stats coming from Catalunya, which Xavi won't be pleased with.
Napoli's win over Empoli opened up an eighteen-point lead over second-placed Inter in Serie A, who lost away from home to Bologna. Meanwhile, AC Milan's 2-0 victory over Atalanta saw the return of 41-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with the Rossonerri also overtaking AS Roma in the standings.
In Germany, Bayern quickly dispatched the notion of a three-way title race by dismantling Union Berlin at the Allianz Arena. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund continued their perfect start to the 2023 calendar year by overcoming Hoffenheim.
In France, PSG opened up an eight-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 following their emphatic win against second-placed Marseille, with both Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe scoring landmark goals. PSG finally looked like a team that could upset Bayern away from home in what appears to be a mouth-watering second leg in the Champions League last 16.
So, without further ado, here are the best stats from this weekend's action across the top 5 European leagues:
Best Stats from this weekend's action across top 5 European leagues
Premier League
- Manchester City have won their last 12 Premier League encounters against Bournemouth. Only City against West Brom and Manchester United against Wigan Athletic (both 13) have had longer winning streaks against a single opponent.
- Spurs have defeated Chelsea for the first time since November 2018, when the two sides were managed by Mauricio Pochettino and Maurizio Sarri respectively.
- Liverpool have failed to win away to Crystal Palace for the first time since 2014-15.
- Arsenal have won 10 of their 13 away games in the Premier League this season (D1, L2), one more than their tally in the whole of last season.
- Erling Haaland has scored the most goals (27) in a single Premier League campaign for Manchester City.
La Liga
- Alvaro Rodriguez became the youngest player to score in the Madrid Derby in La Liga this century (18 years 226 days), surpassing the record set by Gonzalo Higuain in 2007 (19 years and 76 days).
- Barcelona's loss to Almeria ended a streak of seven La Liga wins and 13 undefeated games overall. It was their first league loss since the defeat against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on October 16.
- Barcelona's away form is a cause for concern. The Blaugranas have conceded eight goals this La Liga season, with seven of those coming in away games.
- Barcelona only had one shot on target in their game against Almeria, their fewest tally in the league since the 0-0 draw against Getafe in May 2022.
Serie A
- Victor Osimhen has scored in each of his last eight Serie A games. He has become the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo (11 between December 2019 and February 2020) to score in eight Serie A games in a row.
- Napoli have become the third team in Serie A history to win five consecutive away games without conceding a goal after Inter (1950-51, 1966-67) and Juventus (1951-52, 1981-82, 2011-12, 2017-18).
- Inter Milan have not scored in two successive away games in Serie A for the first time since April 2018.
- AC Milan have won three successive Serie A games without conceding a goal for the first time since March 2022.
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (41 years and 281 days) has become the oldest player to represent AC Milan in 30 years.
Bundesliga
- Borussia Dortmund have won seven successive matches in Bundesliga in 2023, equalling a club record for the most successive wins at the start of a calendar year - set in 2012. Dortmund went on to win the title in 2012.
- Bayern Munich have become the first team to breach the 100-goal barrier in all competitions across the top 5 European leagues.
- With his goal against Union Berlin, Eric-Maxim Chupo Moting has now scored against all 18 current Bundesliga teams.
- Union Berlin are winless in their last eight games against Bayern (D3 L5). Interestingly, it was their first loss this calendar year.
- Borussia Dortmund are the only team across the top 5 European leagues with a 100 percent winning record across all competitions in 2023.
Ligue 1
- Kylian Mbappe scored his 200th goal for PSG, equaling Edinson Cavani as the club's all-time leading goal scorer in all competitions. Mbappe achieved the feat in just 246 games, while Cavani took 301 games to reach that figure.
- Lionel Messi has reached the landmark of 700 club career goals. Messi only trails his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo (709), who took 943 games to reach the landmark as opposed to Messi's 840 games.
Stats courtesy of ESPN & WhoScored
