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The 2021-22 UEFA Champions League has got off to a riveting start, with a slew of unexpected storylines emerging on Matchday 1.
For a start, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the two-most prolific scorers in Champions League history, did not end up on the winning side. While Manchester United lost at Young Boys despite Ronaldo's opener, Messi failed to score on his first start for PSG, who drew 1-1 at Club Brugges.
In other results, Sheriff FC, the first Moldovan team to appear in the Champions League, opened their European sojourn with a 2-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk. Bayern Munich won at Barcelona, while Inter Milan lost at home to Real Madrid. Liverpool prevailed 3-2 in a five-goal thriller against AC Milan, who were back in the Champions League after seven years.
Holders Chelsea opened their title defense with a narrow 1-0 win over Zenit St. Petersburg. Manchester City's 6-3 home win over Leipzig was undoubtedly the most entertaining result of the Gameweek.
Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski opened their accounts in the competition, as did a few Champions League debutants on the night. On that note, here are the ten most interesting stats, in no particular order, from Matchday 1 of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League:
#10 Four penalties are awarded in a Champions League game for the very first time
Sevilla opened their 2021-22 Champions League campaign with an unconvincing 1-1 draw against RB Salzburg. Both sides had chances to win the game, but the ten-man hosts would be the happier of the two teams with the result.
That's because Salzburg were awarded three penalties in the first half. The first one, in the 13th minute, was fired wide by Karim Adeyemi, who was fouled inside the box. Eight minutes later, Adeyemi was fouled in the Sevilla box again. But this time Luka Sucic stepped up and scored to give Salzburg the lead on the night.
Incredibly, Salzburg received another penalty sixteen minutes later, but this time Sucic hit the post from the spot. Sevilla then had a penalty of their own three minutes from half-time, which Ivan Rakitic converted to restore parity.
That marked the record for the most penalties in a Champions League game. Incredibly, all four spot-kicks came in the same half as well.
There were shouts for a fifth penalty in the game. But Youssef En-Nesyri received his second booking of the night for simulation instead as the game ended all square at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
#9 Barcelona lose their opening Champions League game for the first time in 24 years
Barcelona's indifferent start to the post-Lionel Messi era continued as they slumped to a defeat at home against Bavarian giants Bayern Munich.
The result on the night was not as one-sided as it was in the two sides' last meeting in 2020, which Bayern won 8-2. But the 2019-20 Champions League winners were clearly the superior team on the night at Camp Nou, running out comfortable 3-0 victors.
It marked the first time since 1997-98 that Barcelona had lost their first Champions League game of the season.
More than the result, Barcelona's performance on the night left a lot to be desired. The hosts looked bereft of ideas in attack, ending the game without a shot on target all night. That marked the first time in almost two decades that the Blaugrana had no shots on target in a Champions League game.
#8 Thomas Muller becomes the most prolific scorer against Barcelona in Champions League history
Staying with the Barcelona-Bayern Munich game, Thomas Muller continued from where he left off against Barcelona in his side's 8-2 victory in 2020.
Muller followed up his brace in that game with another strike against the Blaugrana. The Ramdeuter now has seven goals in just six games in the Champions League against Barcelona. That makes him the most prolific scorer in the competition against the Catalans.
With his latest goal against Barcelona, Muller moved to 49 goals in the competition. Incredibly, that's a record tally by a player without a hat-trick in the Champions League.
#7 Lionel Messi becomes the third outfield player to make 150 Champions League appearances
Weeks after his PSG debut in a Ligue 1 game, Lionel Messi made his first start for his new club in the Champions League. That made the Copa America 2021 winner only the third outfield player, fourth overall, to make 150 appearances in the competition.
The four-time winner failed to score on his Champions League debut for PSG, though. He did come close to opening his PSG account in the first half, but saw a trademark left-footed curler cannon back off the woodwork.
#6 Pep Guardiola celebrates his 300th game in charge of Manchester City with a big win
Two-time Champions League-winning manager Pep Guardiola marked his 300th game in charge of Manchester City with a big win. The 2020-21 finalists opened their bid for a maiden title in the competition with an entertaining 6-3 win at home against RB Leipzig.
The Spanish tactician, widely regarded as one of the best in the world, has won a staggering 219 games in charge of City during this period. He has lifted ten titles in all competitions, including three in the Premier League.
The only title conspicuous by its absence in Guardiola's impressive six-season resume at City is the Champions League. That is something he would wish to tick off in what could be his final season in charge at the Etihad.
#5 Jude Bellingham becomes the youngest player to score in consecutive Champions League games
Jude Bellingham continued his fine start to the 2021-22 season in Borussia Dortmund's Champions League opener. The Englishman scored the first goal in the German outfit's 2-1 win against Besiktas.
The goal was the 18-year-old's second strike in as many games in the competition. This made Bellingham the youngest player to score in consecutive Champions League games.
Bellingham has also picked up a goal and two assists in four Bundesliga games for Dortmund this season.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo equals Iker Casillas for the most appearances in Champions League history
Manchester United's 2021-22 Champions League opener against Young Boys marked Cristiano Ronaldo's record-equalling 177th game in the competition.
The 36-year-old already has the most Champions League appearances for an outfield player. The five-time winner has now moved level with former Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas for the most appearances by any player in the competition.
Ronaldo has made most of those appearances for Real Madrid, playing in 101 matches for Los Blancos. The all-time top scorer in the competition's history has played 23 Champions League games for Juventus and 53 for Manchester United.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the second player to score against 36 different Champions League teams
In his first Champions League game for Manchester United in 12 years, Cristiano Ronaldo continued his blistering form on his return to Old Trafford.
The Portuguese scored a brace in his first Premier League game for the club in more than a decade. Ronaldo was at it again in the Champions League as he opened the scoring in United's opener at Swiss club Young Boys.
That made the five-time Ballon d'Or winner the only player other than Lionel Messi to score against 36 different opponents in the competition. Both players currently hold the record together.
It was a shame that, despite Ronaldo's exploits on a record-equalling night, United succumbed to a 2-1 reverse at the Swiss club.
#2 Christopher Nkunku becomes the fourth player to score a Champions League hat-trick in a losing cause
In a nine-goal thriller at the Etihad, Christopher Nkunku scored a hat-trick for Leipzig. But the Bundesliga team fell way short in a nine-goal thriller, losing 6-3 on the night.
That made the French striker only the fourth player in Champions League history to score a hat-trick in a losing cause. The others are Ronaldo Nazario (2003), Gareth Bale (2010) and Irfan Kahveci (2020).
Interestingly, it was the first hat-trick scored by a player for Leipzig in the competition. Meanwhile, Nkunku's three-goal effort was only the second Champions League hat-trick conceded by City. The first was by a certain Lionel Messi, who netted three against them during the 2016-17 season.
#1 Sebastien Haller becomes the second player to score four goals on his Champions League debut
Sebastien Haller made his first Champions League game an occasion to remember. The Cote d'Ivoire striker scored a memorable quadruple in Ajax's 5-1 win at Sporting Lisbon in their 2021-22 Champions League opener.
That made Haller the first player in almost three decades, and second overall, to score four goals on their Champions League debut. The only player to do so is Marco van Basten, who scored a quadruple in the inaugural Champions League season in 1992-93.
Haller, in the process, joins a handful of players to mark their Champions League debut with a hat-trick.
