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After an enthralling six matchdays, the group stage of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League has drawn to a close.
Fifteen teams have booked their places in the Round of 16. The one remaining spot will be taken up by either Atalanta or Villareal tomorrow, as their game in Bergamo had to be postponed because of heavy snowfall.
As is usually the case on every matchday of the Champions League, there were impressive performances and records galore on the final day of group action. Most of the continent's bigwigs - except one - sealed their berths in the knockout round.
The matchday saw many interesting landmarks and records getting created. On that note, here's a look at ten interesting stats from matchday six of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League:
#10 Barcelona fail to reach Champions League knockouts for the first time in 21 years
Barcelona were already in unchartered territory before traveling to Bayern Munich on Matchday 6. After two wins in five games, the Blaugrana needed a win in Germany to seal their berth in the Round of 16, without bothering about results elsewhere. However, their recent form didn't warrant any confidence.
That proved to be the case in Bavaria on Wednesday. Xavi's men suffered their second 3-0 reverse against Bayern Munich this season. With already-eliminated Dynamo Kyiv failing to win away at Benfica in the other group game, Barcelona were knocked out from Round of 16 contention.
It marked the first time in over two decades - 21 years to be exact - that the five-time Champions League winners won't grace the knockout stage of the competition.
As a consolation of sorts, Barcelona have dropped down to the Europa League, a competition they last played in 2003-04.
#9 Salzburg become first Austrian team to reach the Champions League knockouts
Coming into the final day of games in Group G, all four teams - Lille, Salzburg, Sevilla and Wolfsburg - were in contention for the Champions League knockouts.
As it transpired, Lille won 3-1 at Wolfsburg, while Salzburg prevailed by a solitary goal against Sevilla to take the top two places in the group. In the process, Salzburg became the first Austrian team to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Matthias Jaissle's men won three of their six games and drew one to finish a point behind group winners and reigning Ligue 1 winners Lille (11).
#8 Liverpool become the first English team to win all six group games in a Champions League season
Liverpool continued their imperious run in this season's Champions League. Having already won their group coming into their Matchday 6 game at AC Milan, a much-changed Reds team proved to be too hot for the Rossoneri at the San Siro.
Despite making eight changes to the team that started their Premier League game last weekend, Jurgen Klopp saw his team win 2-1 on the night. The result not only doused Milan's slim hopes of making the knockouts, but also helped Liverpool create some history of their own.
With the win, the six-time winners became the first English team to win all six group games in a Champions League campaign.
Liverpool were not alone in registering a perfect group-stage campaign, though. Ajax and Bayern Munich also sailed through to the Champions League knockouts without dropping a point. It marked the first time in the competition's history that more than one team registered perfect group-stage campaigns in the same season.
#7 Bayern Munich become the second team to win all six Champions League group games on multiple occasions
Bayern Munich had already qualified as group winners ahead of their Matchday 6 meeting at home to Barcelona.
However, Julian Nagelsmann fielded a strong team that took apart their lacklustre visitors. Although Robert Lewandowski drew a rare blank, Bayern Munich registered a comfortable 3-0 win on the night.
In the process, the Bavarian giants produced a perfect group-stage Champions League campaign for the second time. That made them only the second team in the competition's history to do so.
Ominously for the other contenders, the last time Bayern Munich won all six group games in the Champions League (2019-20), they went on to win the continental treble.
#6 Real Madrid become the first team to score 1000 goals in the European Cup/Champions League
Real Madrid are the record 13-time champions in European Cup/Champions League history. So it's fitting that the Merengues made more history in the competition.
Carlo Ancelotti's men beat ten-man Inter Milan 2-0 to win their group on Matchday 6. The first goal of the game - scored by Toni Kroos - was a landmark strike. It was Real Madrid's 1000th goal in the competition (excluding qualifiers), becoming the first team to achieve the feat.
It was only his 11th goal in the competition, but one Kroos won't forget in a hurry. The four-time Champions League winner was also among the scorers in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over competition debutants Sheriff on Matchday 5.
#5 Thomas Muller becomes the first German player to score 50 Champions League goals
Thomas Muller scored in group winners Bayern Munich's 3-0 win over Barcelona on Matchday 6. The strike was a landmark one for Muller in the Champions League.
It was the two-time Champions League winner's 50th goal in the competition. In the process, Muller became only the eighth player and first German to achieve the milestone.
Among the octet, Muller is the only one without a Champions League hat-trick. That makes his haul a record in the competition's history for most goals without a hat-trick.
Additionally, with eight goals, Muller now has more Champions League goals against Barcelona than any other player.
#4 Kylian Mbappe becomes the youngest player to score 30 Champions League goals
Kylian Mbappe was among the goals in PSG's 4-1 win at home against Club Brugge. The 22-year-old scored a brace that made him the youngest player to score 30 goals in the Champions League.
The earlier record belonged to his PSG teammate Lionel Messi (more on him later) who also scored a brace on the night.
Mbappe now has 31 goals in 53 games in the Champions League as he continues to rise up the competition's goalscoring charts.
#3 Lionel Messi becomes the second player to score against 38 different teams in the Champions League
Lionel Messi is one of only two players to score over 100 goals and eight hat-tricks in the Champions League.
Although he didn't net a hat-trick on Matchday 6 against Brugge, Messi scored his second brace of the season. In the process, he created more history in the Champions League.
The first of his two strikes - a sublime finish from outside the box - made Messi only the second player to score against 38 different teams in the Champions League. The only other player to do so is Cristiano Ronaldo, who achieved the feat earlier this season.
In the process, Messi also surpassed Pele's career goal record. The Brazilian legend scored 757 official goals during his career while the brace against Brugge took Messi one ahead of Pele.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner has now scored five goals in as many Champions League games for PSG. That is a far cry from his Ligue 1 form - one goal in nine games.
#2 Sebastien Haller becomes the first player to score in each of his first six Champions League games
Sebastien Haller continues to create history with every goal he scores in the Champions League.
Haller scored from the spot in Ajax's 4-2 win at home to Sporting Lisbon on Matchday 6. That made the Cote d'Ivoire international the first player to score in each of his first six Champions League games.
The 27-year-old hit the ground running on his Champions League debut. Haller emulated Marco van Basten to become only the second player to score a quadruple in his first game in the competition.
He has not looked back since then, scoring in his next four games to join an exclusive group of players to score in each of their first five Champions League games.
With his latest strike, Haller has also become only the fourth player to score ten goals in a Champions League group-stage campaign. He is also topping this season's scoring charts, one clear of Lewandowski (9).
Moreover, Haller (6 matches) is now the quickest player to reach ten Champions League goals, breaking the record set by Erling Haaland (7) two years ago.
#1 Sebastien Haller becomes the second player to score in all six games of a Champions League campaign
Coming into Matchday 6, three players - Haller, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski - had scored in each of their five Champions League games this season.
With Haller scoring once again, Lewandowski drawing a blank and Ronaldo not playing, the Ajax striker created more history in the competition. He became the only player after Ronaldo (2017-18) to score in all six games in a Champions League campaign.
While Ronaldo accomplished the feat in his 15th Champions League campaign, Haller has done so in only his first.
