Real Madrid and Man City on brink of last 16 - Champions League in Opta numbers

By Sports Desk October 10, 2022

Real Madrid and Manchester City could qualify for the Champions League round of 16 by maintaining their 100 per cent records on Tuesday.

Madrid travel to Shakhtar Donetsk sitting pretty at the top of Group F and the holders will be guaranteed to progress if they make it four wins out of four.

The same goes for free-scoring City, who have been victorious in all three Group G games and will be expected to get the better of Copenhagen at Parken.

Borussia Dortmund could also advance if they beat Sevilla again, while Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica meet in the battle of the top two in Group H.

Milan will look to exact revenge on Chelsea at San Siro, while Group E leaders Salzburg travel to Dinamo Zagreb.

Stats Perform preview the eight matches to be staged on Tuesday by picking out the standout Opta data.


Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid

After beating Madrid home and away in the Champions League in 2020-21, Shakhtar have lost three consecutive matches against the holders - the latest being a 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.

There have been 14 goals in the previous three matches between the two sides in Donetsk, Madrid scoring nine of those.

Carlo Ancelotti's side are on a five-game winning streak in the Champions League, a run that began with a 3-1 victory over City in the second leg of last season's semi-final. They last had a longer winning streak in the competition between April 2014 and February 2015 - a run of 10 straight victories.

Among teams to have featured in the Champions League in every season since 2018-19, Shakhtar have the lowest win percentage of any side in that period (18.5 per cent - 5/27).

Copenhagen v Manchester City

City hammered Copenhagen 5-0 last week. Their best combined record against an opponent in a single Champions League campaign is 9-0 versus Shakhtar in 2018-19.

Copenhagen have only lost one of their 13 home games in the group stage of the Champions League (W6 D6), that defeat coming against Real Madrid in December 2013.

English teams are winless in their last two visits to Denmark in the Champions League, with Liverpool drawing 1-1 with Midtjylland in December 2020 and Leicester City drawing 0-0 with Copenhagen in November 2016. 

Erling Haaland has 28 goals in 22 Champions League appearances. His next strike in the competition will see him equal the goal tallies of David Trezeguet (58 games), Roy Makaay (61 games) and Patrick Kluivert (71 games).

Paris Saint-Germain v Benfica

PSG have hosted Benfica on three previous occasions in European competition, with the Ligue 1 champions beating them 2-1 in the UEFA Cup in 2007, 3-0 in the Champions League nine years ago and drawing 1-1 in the Europa League in 2011.

No Portuguese side has ever won away at PSG in European competition. They have suffered five defeats and drawn twice, with all three Champions League contests won by PSG.

PSG could equal their longest winning streak of six consecutive home victories in the competition. Their last run of six wins in a row in Europe's premier club competition ended in November 2014. 

Benfica are unbeaten in four Champions League away games (W2 D2), their longest run without defeat on the road in the competition.

Milan v Chelsea

Milan are winless in five meetings against Chelsea in Europe (D3 L2) since winning the very first match between the two sides in the Fairs Cup in February 1966. 

The Serie A champions only had four shots in a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge last week. Since Opta have had this data available for the Champions League, the Blues have only faced fewer in a game in the competition twice - versus Malmo in October 2021 (two) and Galatasaray in March 2014 (three).

The Rossoneri have lost four of the last five games when hosting an English team in the Champions League, with their only victory coming against Arsenal in February 2012 (4-0). The only previous time they hosted Chelsea in the competition was in a 1-1 draw in October 1999.

Milan's former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has initiated more sequences of play than any other player in the Champions League this season, with the centre-back regaining possession for his side 47 times in three games.


Other fixtures:

Borussia Dortmund v Sevilla

273 - Sevilla have gone 273 minutes without scoring away from home in the Champions League, having failed to net in their previous three matches. 

4 - Only Haaland (5) has been directly involved in more goals than Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham in the Champions League this season (3 goals, 1 assist). 

Maccabi Haifa v Juventus

3 - Maccabi have lost all three of their matches against Juventus - home and away in the group stage of the Champions League in 2009-10, and again last week in Turin.

5 - Juve have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past five matches in the Champions League. That is their longest run without a clean sheet since a run of eight games between April and December in 2013.

Celtic v RB Leipzig

6 - Celtic have lost six consecutive home games in the Champions League. If they lose this match, they would equal the longest run of home defeats by a team in the competition, previously set by Monaco between May 2017 and December 2018.

9 - Christopher Nkunku scored his ninth Champions League goal for Leipzig against Celtic last week, equalling Emil Forsberg's tally for the most goals for the club in the competition. Since the start of last season, only four players have more Champions League group-stage goals than him (8).

Dinamo Zagreb v Salzburg

3 - Dinamo have lost all three of their major European matches against Salzburg, losing twice in the 2014-15 Europa League and 1-0 to the Group E leaders last week.

23 - Salzburg's starting XI has had an average aged of 23 years and 36 days in the Champions League this season, the youngest of any side. The average of 22 years and 336 days in their 1-0 win over Dinamo was the third-youngest by a winning team in a Champions League match; the two younger were in 2004-05 in the reverse fixtures between Ajax (22y 300d) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (22y 213d).

Related items

  • Brentford goalkeeper David Raya valued at £40million by boss Thomas Frank Brentford goalkeeper David Raya valued at £40million by boss Thomas Frank

    Brentford boss Thomas Frank values goalkeeper David Raya at £40million.

    Tottenham and Manchester United have been heavily linked with Spaniard Raya, who has a year left on his Bees contract having turned down a new one.

    The 27-year-old kept his 12th clean sheet of the season in the 1-0 win against Manchester City on Sunday but Frank admits his future probably lies elsewhere.

    “I think we only have one player for sale,” said Frank. “That’s the one that’s been talked about a lot, David. He costs £40million, I think I said.”

    Frank himself is on the radar of bigger clubs having guided Brentford to a ninth-placed finish in their second season in the Premier League.

    Other players, such as full-backs Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey, will also attract interest this summer.

    But Frank added: “We are a selling club. I don’t think that’s a secret. But they need to be crazy high amounts for the players for anyone to leave.

    “I’m pretty sure that everyone, including myself, is very happy here at Brentford.”

    Ethan Pinnock’s 85th-minute goal saw the Bees became the only club to do the double over City this season.

    The champions have bigger fish to fry, however, as they chase an historic treble with the FA Cup final against Manchester United to come next weekend, followed by the Champions League showpiece with Inter Milan on June 10.

    Pep Guardiola left the likes of Erling Haaland, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan on the bench and used the occasion to give 19-year-old Shea Charles his debut as a substitute.

    “Shea Charles, against this team with top, top strikers, fast and strong, it’s not the easiest debut,” said the City boss.

    “At the same time we didn’t play for points. We know him, he trains quite regularly with us. He’s so good, so composed.

    “When you can make your debut, after joining the club aged nine, is the biggest compliment for all the managers he had and the trainers and those that take care of him. I’m pretty sure it was a big moment for him.”

  • Luciano Spalletti set to leave Napoli after leading club to Serie A success Luciano Spalletti set to leave Napoli after leading club to Serie A success

    Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti is set to leave the club after guiding them to their first Serie A title in 33 years.

    President Aurelio De Laurentiis said that the 64-year-old, who took over the Partenopei in 2021, has asked to take a sabbatical and will leave the club with a year left on his contract.

    “He’s a free man, now it’s right that he continues to do what he wants. I thank him,” De Laurentiis told Italian broadcaster Rai as reported by Sky Italy.

    Napoli clinched their first title since 1990, when Diego Maradona led them to the Scudetto, with five games to spare.

    Spalletti’s final game in charge is set to be at home to Sampdoria next Sunday.

    Reports in Italy suggest Napoli will attempt to bring in former Barcelona and Spain head coach Luis Enrique to replace Spalletti.

    A number of their star players such as top scorer Victor Osimhen and centre-back Kim Min-jae have been linked with moves away from Naples this summer, with a host of Premier League clubs among those reportedly interested.

  • Dundee choose Tony Docherty to lead them in Premiership Dundee choose Tony Docherty to lead them in Premiership

    Tony Docherty has left his role as Kilmarnock assistant to become manager of newly-promoted cinch Premiership side Dundee.

    The 52-year-old is a surprise appointment as he has spent the majority of his coaching career as number two to Derek McInnes at St Johnstone, Bristol City, Aberdeen and Killie.

    Docherty takes over from Gary Bowyer, who departed immediately after winning the Championship title earlier this month.

    The Dees had spoken to former St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson, while Raith Rovers manager Ian Murray was also in contention, but the club declared on Monday that “after a full and thorough search process, Tony was the outstanding candidate. He has gained great respect as a coach and knows what is required to be successful in Scotland’s top flight.”

    Technical director Gordon Strachan has worked with Docherty previously in the Scotland set-up. “Tony is a guy that has been there and done it in Scottish football, at a number of clubs alongside Derek,” he said.

    “I had the privilege to witness Tony’s coaching skills first-hand when he joined the Scotland coaching team.

    “We know that next season is a big one for the club and Tony knows what it takes to win matches in this league, and that’s what we need. I’m thrilled we’ve got Tony on-board.”

    Managing director John Nelms added: “I am delighted with Tony’s appointment. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge of our game, having been in the dugout for over 750 matches including national team experiences, European nights, and trophy-lifting moments here domestically.

    “Tony’s leadership, work ethic, and humility will go a long way to bringing Dundee success in the coming years.”

    Docherty’s backroom team will be appointed in due course.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.