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Matchday 4 of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League continued to produce exhilarating action and goals galore.
Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Ajax continued their perfect starts to their campaigns to become the first four teams to reach the Round of 16. Elsewhere, Barcelona moved into second place in their group after opening their campaign with consecutive losses.
The fourth matchday of this season's competition also saw several imperious performances. Joao Cancelo provided a hat-trick of assists for Manchester City. A Cristiano Ronaldo brace helped Manchester United force a share of the spoils in Bergamo. Robert Lewandowski, Sebastien Haller and Christian Nkuku were also among the goals, while Karim Benzema netted a landmark strike.
On that note, here's a look at the ten most interesting stats from Matchday 4 of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League:
#10 Liverpool equal their longest unbeaten run in all competitions in four decades
Liverpool have been on a roll since the closing weeks of last season and are the only unbeaten team in the English top flight this campaign. The Reds extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 25 games with a clinical 2-0 Champions League win at home against ten-man Atletico Madrid.
The win not only qualified the Reds for the Round of 16, but also helped equal the club's joint-longest unbeaten run across competitions. Liverpool are now unbeaten in 25 games across competitions, their best unbeaten streak since 1982.
During this period, they have won 18 games and drawn seven. Twelve of those wins have come this season.
#9 Jurgen Klopp becomes the 5th Liverpool manager to win 200 games across competitions
Since arriving at Liverpool six years ago, Jurgen Klopp has transformed the fortunes of the club,
He has led the Reds to Champions League and Premier League triumphs in successive seasons. With the 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid at Anfield, the German became only the fifth Liverpool manager to win 200 games across competitions.
Klopp's team are unbeaten in 16 games across competitions this season and are in the midst of a club-record unbeaten streak.
#8 Real Madrid become the first team to score 1000 goals in the European Cup/Champions League
Real Madrid have a rich pedigree in the European Cup/ Champions League. After a shock home defeat to competition debutants Sheriff on Matchday 2, the Merengues have reeled off consecutive wins to go atop their group.
Their 2-1 Matchday 4 win against Shakhtar Donetsk was a landmark one. Powered by a Karim Benzema brace, Madrid became the first team in European Cup/ Champions League history to score 1000 goals in the competition.
With 13 triumphs, including seven in the Champions League era, Real Madrid are the most successful club in the competition's history.
#7 Hakim Ziyech becomes the joint-most prolific Moroccan scorer in Champions League history
Hakim Ziyech hasn't had the best of starts to his career at Chelsea since moving to the club last summer.
He has struggled to nail down a consistent place in the Blues' first team. However, he made the most of a rare start in Chelsea's Champions League game at Malmo on Matchday 4.
The former Ajax player netted the holders' winner, the lone goal of the game, to become the joint-most prolific Moroccan scorer in Champions League history.
Ziyech now has eight goals in the competition, with three of them coming for Chelsea.
#6 Sebastien Haller becomes the fifth player to score in each of his first four Champions League games
Sebastien Haller has had a rousing start to his Champions League career. Haller became only the second player to score a quadruple on his competition debut. Now, he has scored in each of his first four Champions League games.
The striker netted once again in Ajax's 3-1 Matchday 4 win at Borussia Dortmund. By doing so, Haller became only the fifth player in competition history to score in each of their first four appearances.
Earlier, Haller netted a quadruple against Sporting Lisbon, and followed that with strikes against Besiktas and Dortmund (home and away).
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first Manchester United player in two decades to score in 4 consecutive Champions League games
Cristiano Ronaldo has been a man on a mission since returning to his old stomping ground at Old Trafford this summer.
The 36-year-old has scored nine times across competitions, including five times in the Champions League. Ronaldo once again came to the rescue of a rather lackluster Manchester United side in Bergamo. He netted a brace to force a share of the spoils.
The first of his two strikes on the night made Ronaldo the first Manchester United player in 18 years to score in four consecutive Champions League games.
Earlier this season, Ronaldo scored in United's Matchday 1 loss at Young Boys, and netted late winners at home against Villarreal and Atalanta.
#4 Robert Lewandowski becomes the third player to score four Champions League hat-tricks
Robert Lewandowski has been on a roll this season. Bayern Munich's prolific Pole has already netted 20 times across competitions, including eight goals in the Champions League.
On Matchday 4 against Benfica, the 33-year-old missed a penalty on the night, but scored a hat-trick to book the Bavarian giants' passage in the Round of 16. It was Lewandowski's fourth hat-trick in the Champions League. Only two other players - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (eight apiece) - have scored more hat-tricks in the competition.
Lewandowski has scored three of his four Champions League hat-tricks for Bayern Munich, with the other coming for Borussia Dortmund.
#3 Robert Lewandowski becomes the 6th player to score in his 100th Champions League game
Robert Lewandowski played his 100th game in the Champions League on Tuesday (November 2). He made it an occasion to remember by scoring his fourth hat-trick in the competition.
The first of his three strikes on the night at home to Benfica made the Pole only the sixth player to score in their 100th appearance in the Champions League. The first to do so was Thierry Henry, followed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrea Pirlo and Toni Kroos.
Lewandowski is already up to eight goals for the season, opening his campaign with braces against Barcelona and Dynamo Kyiv. He also scored in Bayern Munich's 4-0 win at Benfica on Matchday 3.
#2 Robert Lewandowski becomes the quickest player to score 80 goals in the Champions League
Staying with Robert Lewandowski once again, the Polish striker reached numerous milestones by scoring on Matchday 4.
He became one of a handful of players to score in their 100th game in the Champions League. Lewandowski's second strike on the night took him to 80 goals in the competition, becoming only the third player to reach the milestone.
However, among the trio, which comprises Ronaldo and Messi, Lewandowski is the quickest to the landmark, taking only 100 games. While Messi needed 102 games to score 80 Champions League goals, Ronaldo took 116.
Apart from his 81 strikes in the competition, Lewandowski also has 23 assists in the Champions League.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo has twice more Champions League goals (10) after turning 35 than the next-best player
Cristiano Ronaldo is called Mr. Champions League for a reason. He holds a plethora of records in the competition, including most goals, most assists, most appearances and most wins, to name a few.
Continuing his exploits in the competition this season, Ronaldo scored a brace at Atalanta. That helped a below-par Manchester United side split points and remain atop their group.
With his latest brace (38th) in the competition, Ronaldo now has ten Champions League goals after turning 35. That is twice that of the next best player - Didier Drogba (5).
If he scores on the next two Matchdays, Ronaldo will become the only player to score in all six Matchdays of a season twice. Nobody else has done so even once.
