Fact check: Best stats from this weekend's (5-6 Feb) footballing action

After the January international break, major football leagues across Europe were back in action this weekend, conjuring up some terrific stats for us to digest. While the Premier League was absent, the FA cup more than made up for the absence of the English top flight league football.

In England, there were stats galore and plenty of them were hugely surprising, primarily because there were major shocks. Manchester United and Leicester City suffered shocking exits and Chelsea had to play extra time to proceed. Elsewhere, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur registered comfortable wins.

In Spain, Sevilla drew a blank at Osasuna, enabling Real to extend the lead to six points at the top. Meanwhile, Barcelona and Atletico played out a goal-fest at the Camp Nou, which resulted in the Blaugranas entering the top-four.

In Germany, Bayern's juggernaut rolled on. With Borussia Dortmund losing more ground in the title race, it seems the title is heading back to Bavaria.

In Italy, Inter Milan dramatically lost to AC Milan, blowing the title race wide open. With Napoli also building momentum as we approach the business end of the season, it seems we have a pulsating title race on our hands. Meanwhile, the top four race is getting interesting, with Juventus jumping into the Champions League spots following Atalanta’s loss.

In France, the title race is seemingly over after Nice lost to Clermont Foot and PSG rolled on to extend their lead to 16 points at the top of the league.

So, without any further ado, here are the best stats from this weekend's footballing action:

Best Stats from this Weekend's footballing action (league wise)

FA Cup

• Since Pep Guardiola set foot on the English soil, Manchester City have won 41 cup games -- spread across the League cup (20) and the FA cup (21).
• Embarrassing stats for Manchester United -- they have not won any of the penalty shoot-outs they have been involved in the FA cup. Previously, they lost to Everton (2008-09), Arsenal (2004-05) & Southampton (1991-92)
• Chelsea have now won 11 of their last 12 FA cup matches at Stamford Bridge by an aggregate score of 32-5. Their only defeat during that time was against Manchester United in round five in February 2019.
• Despite his poor form, the stats are kind to Romelu Lukaku. Since 2013-14, only Sergio Aguero (16) has more goals in the FA cup than the Belgian (14).
• Spurs have won each of their last eight home games against Brighton, a run that dates back to 1982.

La Liga

• First of all, stats from the game of the weekend in La Liga. Barcelona's win over Atletico is the 16th consecutive time the Rojiblancos have failed to beat the Blaugranas at Camp Nou.
• Atletico Madrid has conceded 30 goals in 22 La Liga games this season. This is their worst ever defensive record at this stage of the competition in the Diego Simeone era.
• Barcelona have lost just once in the last 12 La Liga games (W6 D5). On the other hand, Atletico Madrid have won none of their last five away games (D1 L4).
• Despite the draw, Sevilla have lost just one of their last eight away games (W4 D3).
• Real Madrid have picked up 53 points from 23 games this season (W16 D5 L2). The last time they picked up 50+ points at this stage of the campaign, they went on to win La Liga (2016-17).

Bundesliga

• Thomas Muller has contributed to 23 goals this season (7G 16A) in the league play alone, only behind Salah, Lewandowski (both 25), and Karim Benzema (24).
• After a run of six consecutive wins, Dortmund have finally lost to Leverkusen on home soil, failing to match the current streak against Monchengladbach (seven games).
• Manuel Neuer has equaled Oliver Kahn's record of 310 Bundesliga wins, achieved in only 458 appearances as opposed to Kahn's 557.
• RB Leipzig have the worst winless streak against Bayern than against any other side in the Bundesliga. Currently, they have won just once in their last 12 games against Bayern.
• Bayern Munich have scored in their last 68 Bundesliga games, an ongoing record. They last drew blank against Leipzig in February 2020.

Serie A

• AC Milan have blown the title race wide open, securing a win from a trailing position against Inter for the first time since 2004.
• Inter Milan haven't registered a win three of their last four derbies (D1 L2), after securing four consecutive wins on the bounce in the same fixture.
• Great defensive stats from Napoli -- they have kept 13 clean sheets this season, the most in Europe's top five leagues. They have also conceded 16 goals, only fewer than Manchester City (14).
• Juventus have kept the most clean sheets since November 2021, nine in 13 league games.
• Dusan Vlahovic has scored 18 league goals this season, only fewer than Robert Lewandowski (24).

Ligue 1

• PSG have scored five away goals in the league for the first time since November 2017, against Angers.
• PSG are currently having the best unbeaten streak in Europe's top five leagues (P14, W9 D5).
• Nice's second loss against promoted sides this season has almost sealed the Ligue 1 title for PSG. Previously, Nice were unbeaten against promoted sides in their last 11 games.

AFCON

• After beating Egypt in the final, Senegal became the 15th different nation to win the AFCON.
• Cameroon's captain Vincent Aboubakar won the golden boot, scoring eight times. Only Pierre Mulamba (9) scored more than him in a single edition (1974).

Stats: Whoscored & ESPN