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The group stage of the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League drew to a close with the conclusion of Matchday 6 fixtures across all eight groups.
While the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid needed wins in their last group-stage games to confirm their berths in the Round of 16, former winners Manchester United and Inter Milan fell by the wayside.
Real Madrid's win meant that they extended their perfect group-stage record (first and second group stage combined) in the Champions League to an impressive 29 despite twin losses against Shakhtar Donetsk putting the 13-time winners on the cusp of a shock elimination.
Elsewhere, defending champions Bayern Munich (18) scored the most goals in the Champions League group stage for the second consecutive season, while at the other end of the spectrum, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City conceded a record-low of only one goal.
Ten records in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League
As is usually the case, there were goals and records galore in this season of the Champions League group stage.
On that note, let us have a look at ten records in the 2020-21 edition of the competition so far.
#1 Ansu Fati becomes the youngest player to score multiple Champions League goals before turning 18
After becoming the youngest player to score in the Champions League last season, Barcelona sensation Ansu Fati eked out more records in the competition this season.
Fati scored in the opening game of the season against Ferencvaros to become the youngest player in Champions League history to score multiple goals in the competition.
The 18-year-old has also notched up three assists to go with his two goals in eight Champions League games for Barcelona.
#2 Vinicius Jr. scores the fastest Champions League goal by a substitute
Since his arrival at Real Madrid in the summer of 2018, Vinicius Jr. has grown in stature at the Spanish club.
In 15 Champions League games for the record champions, the 20-year-old winger has scored two goals and assisted four others. Vinicius Jr.'s latest goal in the competition came in Real Madrid's 3-2 win over Inter Milan.
The Brazilian scored the winner barely 15 seconds after coming on to the pitch to record the fastest goal in the Champions League by a substitute.
#3 Marcus Rashford spends the fewest minutes on the field while scoring a Champions League hat-trick off the bench
It is rare for substitutes to score multiple goals in a Champions League game. It is rarer still for a player to come off the bench and score a hat-trick in the competition.
In Manchester United's 5-0 home win over RB Leipzig, Marcus Rashford scored a hat-trick to become only the fifth player in competition history to score three or more goals in a Champions League game after coming off the bench.
Among the quintet, Rashford's tally of 27 minutes on the field is the quickest as the Englishman took his tally of goals in this season's Champions League to six.
However, Rashford will not be able to add to that tally after Manchester United lost at Leipzig on Matchday 6 to slip out of Round-of-16 reckoning.
#4 Marseille lose 13 consecutive games in the Champions League
Marseille, who are the first-ever winners of the competition in the Champions League era, have spectacularly fallen off the pace in recent times.
In their first appearance in the Champions League in seven years, last season's Ligue 1 runner-ups lost their first four games in the competition this season following their 0-2 reverse against Porto on Matchday 4.
In 2013-14, the Ligue 1 club lost all six group-stage games in their last appearance in the Champions League. Two seasons before that, Marseille lost both legs of their 2011-12 quarter-final against Bayern Munich after enduring a 1-2 away defeat in the second leg of their Round-of-16 game against Inter Milan.
Marseille's latest defeat against Porto was their 13th on the trot in the Champions League, the worst losing run of any club to have graced the competition.
Although Marseille arrested their debilitating run with a 2-1 home win over Olympiacos on Matchday 5, a 0-3 loss at Manchester City continued their wretched form in the Champions League.
Incredibly, despite losing five of their six games in the competition this season, Marseille only missed out on a Europa League place to Olympiacos on goal difference.
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo records the longest gap between Champions League goals between the same side
Despite missing a few games this season after contracting COVID-19, Cristiano Ronaldo has had a blistering start to the 2020-21 campaign, scoring 12 goals in ten games in all competitions - four of them in the Champions League.
In the Champions League this season, Ronaldo scored against Ferencvaros on Matchday 4 to emulate Lionel Messi's record of 70 group-stage goals in the competition.
Another goal in the competition, this time at Dynamo Kiev, made Ronaldo the outright top-scorer in Champions League 'home' games. His 750th goal for club and country also helped him create a new record.
It marked the longest gap - 13 years, 25 days - between Champions League goals by a player against the same opposition, breaking the earlier record held by his arch-rival Lionel Messi.
On Matchday 6, Ronaldo notched up his first Champions League goals in seven games against Barcelona to help Juventus to a 3-0 win at Camp Nou and seal top place in the group.
#6 Robert Lewandowski goes third in the all-time Champions League goal-scoring charts
Robert Lewandowski may have scored 'only' thrice in this season's Champions League after plundering 15 in Bayern Munich's victorious treble-winning campaign last season.
However, his latest strike against RB Salzburg at home on Matchday 4 helped the prolific Pole go level with Raul Gonzalez (71) for third all time in the list of Champions League goal-scorers.
Lewandowski has scored 12 goals in the Bundesliga this season but has struggled to hit the ground running in the Champions League.
Nevertheless, his form will be crucial to Bayern Munich's hopes of successfully defending their title when the competition resumes in two months' time.
#7 Moukoko becomes the youngest debutant in Champions League history
In Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 win at Zenit St. Petersburg, Youssoufa Moukoko made a record-making Champions League appearance.
Just 18 days after his 16th birthday, the German striker became the youngest player in the history of the Champions League to appear in the tournament proper. In doing so, Moukoko beat the previous record held by Celestine Babayaro by over two months.
The Cameroon-born player, renowned for his prolific goal-scoring prowess in youth football, has also played three Bundesliga games for BvB but is yet to score a goal for the club.
#8 Cristiano Ronaldo scores a record 'home' goal in the Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo, the all-time top-scorer in Champions League history, continues to eke out new records in his favourite competition.
After scoring against Ferencvaros to go level with Lionel Messi's record of 70 home goals in the Champions League, Ronaldo scored against Dynamo Kyiv in the next game to take sole ownership of the record.
It was also a landmark 750th goal for club and country for the Portugal captain, who shows no signs of slowing down barely months away from his 36th birthday.
Ronaldo scored a pair of penalties against Barcelona on Matchday 6, his first goals against the Blaugrana in the competition, to take his goal tally in the competition to 134.
#9 Lionel Messi becomes the first player to score in 16 consecutive Champions League seasons
Despite making an indifferent start to the 2020-21 season, Lionel Messi - the most prolific scorer in Champions League history after Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo - created more records in the competition by scoring on Matchday 1 against Ferencvaros.
It made Messi the first player to score in 16 consecutive seasons in the Champions League, a feat that has since been emulated by Frenchman Karim Benzema.
During the campaign, Messi became the first player in Champions League history to tally 70 group-stage goals in the competition.
#10 Olivier Giroud becomes the oldest player to score a Champions League hat-trick
With Chelsea's qualification already secured going into the Matchday 5 game at Sevilla, Olivier Giroud made a rare start and made it count as he netted all four goals for Chelsea.
In the process, the embattled French striker proved to Frank Lampard and Chelsea that he ought to start more games for the club despite the wealth of attacking options at their disposal.
Giroud's quadruple effort made the 34-year-old World Cup winner the oldest player to net a Champions League hat-trick, breaking the previous record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Claudio Pizzaro.
In the process, Giroud became the only French player, along with Karim Benzema, to net two Champions League hat-tricks.
The striker's quadruple also made him the first Chelsea player in a decade (Frank Lampard) to score four goals in a game in any competition.
