Records and Milestones set on Champions League Matchday 2: Cristiano Ronaldo reigns supreme

Ed Ran
UCL Records
Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Iker Casillas set new records

Matchday 2 in the UEFA Champions League saw a number of records broken apart from some personal milestones. While most of the big sides won three points comfortable, ever-present Premier League sides such as Arsenal and Chelsea fell to defeats to put a spanner in their works as they look to qualify for the knockout stages. However, the two Manchester clubs ensured England’s UEFA coefficient isn’t in any trouble just yet, with Italian sides also having mixed results.

Iker Casillas officially became the player with the most appearances in the Champions League ever. He was tied with compatriot Xavi Hernandez on 151 before Porto faced Chelsea. Casillas is now on 152. The next highest among active players is Cristiano Ronaldo (117).

Most UCL appearances of all-time
RANK PLAYER APPEARANCES
1 Iker Casillas 152
2 Xavi Hernandez 151
3 Raul Gonzalez 142
4 Ryan Giggs 141
5 Clarence Seedorf 125
6 Paul Scholes 124
7 Roberto Carlos 120
8 Cristiano Ronaldo 117
9 Carles Puyol 115
10 Thierry Henry 112
Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas - most UCL appearances of all time

Robert Lewandowski became the joint fourth-fastest player to score 25 goals in the Champions League. That is the same as Barcelona forward Lionel Messi took to reach the same mark. The Polish striker did it in 42 games.

Fastest to 25 UCL Goals
RANK PLAYER APPEARANCES
1 Filippo Inzaghi 30
Ruud van Nistelrooy 30
3 Mario Gomez 39
4 Karim Benzema 41
5 Lionel Messi 42
Robert Lewandowski 42
Robert Lewandowski hat-trick
Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick saw him score 10 goals in the last 184 minutes in all competitions!

Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick was also his first in the Champions League for Bayern Munich but his second in the competition overall. He had grabbed a hat-trick when he scored four goals in a semi-final against Real Madrid back when he was at Borussia Dortmund. In doing so, he became the ninth player to score a Champions League hat-trick for two different teams.

Players with UCL hat-tricks for two clubs
# PLAYER CLUBS
1 Filippo Inzaghi Juventus and AC Milan
2 Michael Owen Liverpool and Manchester United
3 Samuel Eto'o Barcelona and Inter Milan
4 Marco Simone AC Milan and Monaco
5 Ruud van Nistelrooy PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United
6 Roy Makaay Deportivo and Bayern Munich
7 Andriy Shevchenko Dynamo Kyiv and AC Milan
8 Didier Drogba Marseille and Chelsea
9 Robert Lewandowski Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez became the highest scoring Uruguayan player in the Champions League with his winner against Bayer Leverkusen. Suarez now has 31 UCL goals followed very closely by Edinson Cavani (30 goals).

Olympiacos finally won their first ever Champions League game in 13 attempts on English soil when they beat Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium. They had lost all 12 of their previous away matches against England opposition. They are also the first Greek team in the UCL era to score 3 goals away against English opposition.

Olympiacos win
Marco Silva’s Olympiacos side became the first Greek side to win a UCL match on English soil

This is the first time a single matchday saw 5 Own Goals being scored – Darijo Srna (Donetsk), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray), Nenad Eric (Astana), Lionel Carole (Galatasaray) and Andreas Christensen (Borussia Monchengladbach).

While Sergio Aguero is struggling in the Premier League, he scored his 15th goal in 15 UCL starts for Manchester City.

This is the third time Juan Mata has scored and assisted a goal in the Champions League. He has done it at Valencia, Chelsea and now Manchester United.

Juan Mata
Juan Mata scored and assisted in a UCL match for the third time

PAGE 2: RONALDOOOOOO!

Cristiano Ronaldo 501
MACH FIVE! Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 500th and 501st career goal

Cristiano Ronaldo rewrites the record books – again!

The Real Madrid forward was at it again after not scoring in his previous three matches. Ronaldo surpassed the 500-goal mark in his career with a brace against Malmo FF. He now has 501 goals for club and country.

Ronaldo's goals for club and country
TEAM GOALS
Real Madrid 323
Manchester United 118
Sporting Lisbon 5
Portugal 55
TOTAL 501

In doing so, he tied Raul for the most goals scored by a Real Madrid player. What makes the record even more astounding is that he achieved the feat in almost half the games. Raul took scored 323 goals in 741 games with Los Blancos. Ronaldo reached the mark in only 308 games – more than a goal per game!

Ronaldo also surpassed Raul for the most goals scored in Champions League for Real Madrid. Raul had 66 while this is Ronaldo’s 67th goal.

Most goals scored by a Real Madrid player
RANK PLAYER GOALS
1 Cristiano Ronaldo 323*
Raul Gonzalez 323
3 Alfredo Di Stefano 307
4 Santillana 290
5 Ferenc Puskas 242
6 Hugo Sanchez 207

Ronaldo also went past Raul for most UCL matches in which a player has scored at least one goal. He was tied on 56 before this game. He is now on 57. The next best active player is Messi with 42.

Most UCL matches with at least one goal scored
RANK PLAYER MATCHES
1 Cristiano Ronaldo 57
2 Raul Gonzalez 56
3 Lionel Messi 42
4 Ruud van Nistelrooy 39
5 Thierry Henry 39
Andriy Shevchenko 39
Cristiano Ronaldo Raul Real Madrid
Raul is joined by Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of Real Madrid’s all-time highest goal scorers

Ronaldo also surpassed Messi to set the record for most braces in the Champions League. Both Ballon d’Or winners were on 21 braces each until Ronaldo scored his brace against Malmo last night.

Players with at least 10 UCL braces
RANK PLAYER BRACES
1 Cristiano Ronaldo 22
2 Lionel Messi 21
3 Raul Gonzalez 14
4 Filippo Inzaghi 12
5 Ruud van Nistelrooy 11
6 Thierry Henry 10

All stats via Mister Chiping, Opta and Infostrada

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