5 Champions League records that can be broken this season

In football, there is no greater honour than winning the Champions League. Winners are assured of a place in history and club folklore, glory is forever. But the competition allows for only one team to win in a competition that has 32 such teams, every team - full of ambitious young men - thirsting for the same victory as others. It then becomes a necessity for the players to be at their best on every match day, to eclipse, in every manner, all others that compete with them.Records become more important than ever. It doesn’t matter if it is individual, group or even the country that is the recipient of acclaim in the end, but everyone wants a piece of history that the Champions League has to offer. Here are a few records that might not stand the test of the 2014-15 edition of the tournament.

#1 Most Appearances in the Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is only for the elite. Every professional footballer dreams of playing in it someday, most never fulfil this ambition, and then there are some that can’t but help being a permanent fixture in the tournament year after year after year. Maintaining longevity in the Champions League requires not only good talent, but also fitness and mental fortitude.

Only 19 players in the history of football have made hundred or more appearances in the Champions League. The list is currently headed by Ryan Giggs with a colossal 151 appearances to his name for Manchester United. Close on his heels is Barcelona’s Xavi with 148 appearances.

Xavi doesn’t command an automatic starting berth in the Barcelona squad anymore, but that is not to detract from what he is still capable of. He is still seen as an important member of the squad, and despite his reduced role, he is expected to make a decent number of starts for the club this season. It is almost imminent that Xavi will break Giggs’ record, if not, at least equal it.

One other player who stands to break Giggs’ record is Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas. Casillas has so far made 143 appearances in the competition and is bound to make more. But there is an uncertainty about how much longer Casillas can hold on to the starting spot in the Madrid line-up with his waning performances.

Keylor Navas must be chomping at the thought of taking his place in the squad. However, Casillas is still a starter for now and if he can regain some form there is no reason he shouldn’t be dreaming of breaking the record.

#2 All-Time Top Goalscorer

Scoring goals is the hardest part in football, but to do it repeatedly on the biggest stage in football is truly phenomenal. The record is currently held by the great Raul with 71 goals in 142 appearances, but the record is about to be shattered.

It always seemed like Lionel Messi would be the one to break the record, but the 17 goals blitzed by Ronaldo last season has made it hard to predict who will claim that glory.

Ronaldo currently has 68, while Messi has 67 goals to his name in the competition. It is hard to imagine these players – possibly the greatest in the history of the game – not managing to score the measly three or four goals in the next few games, considering the incredibly high standards they have set for themselves.

#3 Most Goals Scored in Group Stage

Goals win games, but more goals build a psychological advantage that is often hard to offset and countenance for the opposition.

The current record for the maximum number of goals scored in group stage is 20. This record is shared by Manchester United (1999), Barcelona (2012) and Real Madrid (2014). Two of those teams went on to become champions, while Barcelona very nearly beat the champions in the semi- finals.

With all the serious contenders having supplemented their attacking options in the transfer market it is hard to imagine not one of them breaking this record.

#4 Most Number Of Clean Sheets by a Goalkeeper

Clean sheets don’t command the same kind of obsession as goal-scoring does, but it is just as important as displayed by Arsenal’s run to the finals in 2006, on the back of some brilliant defending which helped them set the record for the most number of clean sheets in the tournament, a record which still stands today at 10 clean sheets. Arsenal, in that campaign, oversaw 995 minutes without conceding a goal. The 995 minutes were split between two goalkeepers, Jens Lehmann with 648 and Manuel Almunia with 347 minutes. Lehmann’s 648 minutes is the record by a single goalkeeper which amounts to little over 7 clean-sheets.

There are some very talented keepers in the world football right now. The likes of Manuel Neuer, Thibaut Courtois, Petr Cech, Weidenfeller, Casillas, Ter Stegen and Szczesny are very gifted between the sticks and are shielded by some of the best defenders in the world. There is no reason that one of them can’t break the record, and it’ll probably take for the record to be broken for most of those keepers to make it to the finals. This tournament won’t be decided on attacking prowess alone as has happened sometimes in the past, and it will require an all-round effort for teams to make a serious impact.

#5 Most Goals in a Champions League season

Cristiano Ronaldo ran a juggernaut through any and all defences that dared to stand in his way last season.

With a fantastical return of 17 goals in the tournament last season, he has raised the bar higher than before. Oddly enough, the task of breaking this record doesn’t seem as daunting as it would have previously.

The evolution of football, in recent times, has brought about some radical changes in the game. Onus, now, lies on scoring more goals than defending them.

Even the smaller teams are set up in a way to maximise goals rather than to sit back. This has seen the modern striker flourish.

And with a host of talent the likes of which include Ronaldo, Messi, Bale, Suarez, Falcao, Lewandowski, Cavani, Ibrahimovic and van Persie it is hard to see why this record of 17 goals can’t be put to rest.