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There were goals and surprises galore on the second Matchday 2 of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League.
Bayern Munich, Juventus, Liverpool, Ajax, Dortmund and Champions League debutants Sheriff have made it two wins out of two. However, former winners AC Milan and Barcelona are two of six teams at the other end of the spectrum, yet to open their accounts after two games.
In other results, both finalists from last season endured defeats on the night. While holders Chelsea lost by a solitary goal at Juventus, Manchester City were floored by two unanswered goals by PSG in the French capital.
Champions League debutants Sheriff stunned Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, while Manchester United prevailed by the same scoreline at home to Villarreal.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a dramatic winner on a historic night. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi opened his account for PSG, while Robert Lewandowski kept doing Robert Lewandowski things.
On that note, here are the ten most interesting stats from Matchday 2 of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League:
#10 Sheriff become the first Champions League debutants to win their first two games in the competition since Leicester City in 2016-17
Champions League debutants Sheriff raised a few eyebrows when they beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 at Tiraspol on their competition debut. However, very few gave them any chance when the Moldovan champions visited Real Madrid.
Sheriff, though, took a surprise lead midway through the first half as the 13-time champions trailed at the break. The hosts levelled proceedings in the 65th minute through Karim Benzema.
Just when it looked like Real Madrid would find a winner, it was the visitors who struck at the death. Sebastien Thill scored in the 89th minute, and Los Blancos could muster no response. This marks the first time in five years that a Champions League debutant won their first two games in the competition.
Leicester City also won their first two Champions League matches in their debut campaign in the competition in 2016-17.
#9 Barcelona lose their opening two Champions League games of a season for the very first time
Barcelona began their first Champions League campaign in the post-Lionel Messi era with a 3-0 humbling at home to Bayern Munich.
Two weeks later, the Blaugrana travelled to Benfica and suffered a similar fate, losing by three unanswered goals. A Darwin Nunez brace and a Rafa Silva strike condemned the Catalans to their second reverse in as many games in the competition.
That marked the first time Barcelona kicked off a Champions League campaign with successive defeats. The result also marked Benfica's first victory over the Blaugrana since 1961.
Barcelona are now in real danger of enduring a humiliating group-stage exit from the Champions League. It needs little saying that manager Ronald Koeman is currently treading on very thin ice.
#8 Mohamed Salah becomes the second-most prolific African scorer in Champions League history
Continuing his fine start to the season, Mohamed Salah scored a brace in Liverpool's emphatic 5-1 win at Porto. The Egyptian ace now has eight goals in as many games across competitions.
With his second strike of the night, Salah overtook Samuel Eto'o (30) to become the second-most prolific African goalscorer in the Champions League.
Salah is now only 13 strikes adrift of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba. Earlier in the season, the 29-year-old became one of the quickest players to score 100 Premier League goals.
#7 Mauricio Pochettino becomes the fifth manager to register at least four wins against Pep Guardiola's teams
PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino enjoyed only his fourth victory against a team managed by Pep Guardiola after his team beat Manchester City 2-0 in Paris.
After he was outsmarted by Guardiola in the Champions League semis a few months ago, Pochettino has provided a swift response. In the process, he became only the fifth manager to register at least four wins against teams managed by Pep Guardiola.
Jurgen Klopp (9) and Jose Mourinho (7) are the only other managers to beat Pep Guardiola's teams on more than four occasions.
#6 Sebastien Haller becomes the first player to score five goals in his first two Champions League games
Sebastien Haller continued his fine start to life in the Champions League by scoring in his second straight game in the competition. The striker scored Ajax's second goal in their 2-0 home win over Besiktas.
Two weeks ago, Haller became only the second player ever to score a quadruple in his debut Champions League game. With his latest strike in the competition, he has become the first player to score five times in his first two Champions League games.
Among the four players with four goals in their first two Champions League games, Marco Van Basten is the only one to score a quadruple on his competition debut.
#5 Karim Benzema becomes the first player to score in 17 consecutive Champions League campaigns
Karim Benzema scored Real Madrid's equaliser in their shock 2-1 defeat at home to Champions League debutants Sheriff. That was his ninth goal in as many games this season, and a landmark strike too.
Benzema's strike from the penalty spot against Real Madrid's Moldovan visitors made him the first player to score in 17 consecutive seasons in the Champions League. He has scored in every campaign in the competition since his debut in 2005-06.
The goal also helped Benzema (72) break a tie with Raul Gonzalez to become the fourth-most prolific scorer in Champions League history.
#4 Robert Lewandowski has now scored six more goals this year than any player in Europe's top five leagues
Robert Lewandowski is the hottest striker on the planet at the moment. The Polish striker simply cannot stop scoring, netting a brace in Bayern Munich's 5-0 home win over Dynamo Kyiv. That was his fourth strike in the Champions League this season after a rare blank last weekend.
Lewandowski (41) has now scored six more goals this year than any other player across Europe's top five leagues.
With his latest brace, the Polish marksman has scored 13 times in just nine games across all competitions, as he looks good for another prolific campaign.
#3 Lionel Messi becomes the most prolific scorer against Manchester City in Champions League history
Lionel Messi opened his account for PSG on Tuesday. In the process, he became the most prolific goalscorer against Manchester City in Champions League history.
Playing only his fourth game in all competitions for his newest employers, Messi scored a blistering strike from distance against City. That helped stamp PSG's 2-0 victory on the net.
With seven goals, Messi became the most prolific scorer against Manchester City in the Champions League. In fact, Arsenal (9) are the only English club Messi has scored more goals against.
With his latest strike, Messi also joined Benzema as the only two players to score in 17 consecutive Champions League campaigns.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the most capped player in Champions League history
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most successful player in Champions League history and holds a slew of records in the competition.
To name a few, Ronaldo is the only player to win over 100 games in the competition. He is also the Champions League's all-time record goalscorer (136 goals) and the only player to win five titles.
Ronaldo is the only player to score in all six group games in a season. He also scored in three Champions League finals.
On Wednesday against Villarreal, Ronaldo broke a tie with Iker Casillas to become the most capped player in Champions League history.
Ronaldo has made his Champions League appearances for three different clubs - Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo joins Sergio Aguero as the only players to score three 90th-minute winners in Champions League history
Cristiano Ronaldo marked his record 178th appearance in the Champions League with a landmark strike.
The 36-year-old netted a dramatic 95th-minute winner, his second of the season (136th overall), to help Manchester United seal a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Villarreal. With the strike, he became the second player (also Sergio Aguero) to score three 90th-minute winners in Champions League history.
Ronaldo has now scored in the 90th minute or later in the Champions League on 12 occasions. No other player has done so more than six times (Messi).
