Tuesday marked the start of the 2025-26 Champions League as the league phase began. Here, we’ve identified six data-focused stories that might have escaped your attention.
Back with a bang.
The UEFA Champions League returned on Tuesday and brought with it plenty of goals, drama and intrigue as the 2025-26 league phase got under way.
But as with any occasion when there are multiple matches on one night, it can be difficult to stay abreast of all the goings-on.
Don’t worry, we know you’re aware of the scores, who found the net and who was sent off – but we might be able to tell you the underlying significance of what happened in the Champions League on Tuesday.
So, here’s what you might have missed…
Juventus and Borussia Dortmund Equal Record for Goals in Single Half of a Champions League Game.
Even if you didn’t watch Juventus and Borussia Dortmund’s dramatic back and forth, it’ll have been difficult to fully avoid what went on in Turin given how many goals there were – and the quality of them.
Genuinely, it’s not really the point of this section, but if you haven’t seen the goals from this match then make sure you do because there were some beauties.
But back to the matter at hand.
What made this encounter especially remarkable, beyond the fact it ended 4-4, was that all eight goals came in the second half.
It all started with Karim Adeyemi’s precise drive into the bottom-right corner from 20 yards in the 53rd minute and ended with Lloyd Kelly’s header in the 96th, with that being Juve’s second stoppage-time goal after seemingly staring at a 4-2 defeat.
Curiously, the last time Juventus were involved in a 4-4 draw in the Champions League – against Hamburg in September 2000 – the current coaches of the Bianconeri (Igor Tudor) and Dortmund (Niko Kovac) were both among the scorers.
Juventus 4-4 Borussia Dortmund
Before Tuesday, the only other game in Champions League history to see eight goals in a single half was Bayern Munich’s 9-2 demolition of Dinamo Zagreb almost exactly a year earlier on 17 September 2024.
On that occasion, Bayern scored six second-half goals and Dinamo added a couple of their own. That means Tuesday’s match was the first game in Champions League history to see two teams score four goals in the same half.
An instant classic?
Kylian Mbappé Becomes Fastest Player to Reach 50 Real Madrid Goals Since Cristiano Ronaldo.
Real Madrid certainly didn’t have it all their own way at home to Marseille on Tuesday, but Kylian Mbappé was spot-on to ensure Los Blancos began their league phase campaign with a 2-1 win.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille played some delightful football at times during their visit to the Santiago Bernabéu, though they did take the lead somewhat against the run of play – Timothy Weah finishing emphatically after Mason Greenwood robbed Arda Güler and teed up the American.
Real Madrid may have been somewhat fortunate, but they did manage to fight back.
There was no question about the first penalty as Geoffrey Kondogbia clumsily fouled Rodrygo in the box, and Mbappé made no mistake from the spot.
But their second – soon after Dani Carvajal’s red card for an altercation with Gerónimo Rulli – was highly questionable.
Facundo Medina made a perfectly timed tackle on Vinícius Júnior but the ball ricocheted back on to his arm as he fell to the floor and he was harshly penalised for the apparent offence. Mbappé stepped up to score his second penalty of the night, taking him to 50 goals for Real Madrid since his move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2024.
It was his 64th appearance for the club in all competitions, making him the quickest to 50 goals for Madrid since Cristiano Ronaldo reached that landmark in just 54 matches back in 2010.
Despite some criticism in his first season, Mbappé’s start to life at Madrid has been highly effective, and his penalties on Tuesday took him to six goals already from just five games this term.
Kylian Mbappé 50 Real Madrid Goals
Arsenal Enjoy Record-Breaking Run of Wins Against Spanish Opposition in the Champions League.
It wasn’t a classic, but Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Athletic Club at San Mamés on Tuesday was commendable and notable.
Athletic don’t lose at home very often, with this reverse making it successive defeats in all competitions at San Mamés for the first time since August 2023.
Two Gunners substitutes got the job done, as Gabriel Martinelli (just 36 seconds after coming on) and Leandro Trossard scored to ensure a winning start to the league phase.
Doing so meant Arsenal tallied their sixth successive win over Spanish opposition in the Champions League – no team have ever managed such a run against La Liga sides in the Champions League or the old European Cup.
They could yet extend that run this season as well, with Atlético Madrid set to visit Emirates Stadium on Matchday 3 of the Champions League next month.
Arsenal's Six Consecutive Champions League Wins vs Spanish Clubs
Union Saint-Gilloise’s Debut Win a 51-Year First for Belgian Clubs in Europe’s Top-Tier Competition.
It was a night to remember for Union Saint-Gilloise, who were in the Belgian second tier as recently as 2020-21.
Tuesday’s trip to PSV was their first ever match (excluding qualifiers) in the Champions League or its predecessor, the European Cup.
As such, their 3-1 win in Eindhoven made them the first Belgian side to win their maiden match in Europe’s top tier since RWD Molenbeek debuted with a 3-2 European Cup win over Norway’s Viking in 1975.
Looking specifically at the Champions League, USG became only the second Belgian side to win their first UCL game after Club Brugge in 1992-93.
If USG harbour any hopes of springing something of a surprise and at least reaching the knockout play-off round, Tuesday’s victory was an important step considering our fixture difficulty analysis put them down as having one of the hardest schedules in the competition this season.
Qarabag Make Champions League History.
Azerbaijan’s Qarabag will have been largely written off as mere also-rans for the league phase of the 2025-26 Champions League.
But they sprung a surprise on the opening night, securing an impressive comeback win away to Benfica at the Estádio da Luz.
They found themselves 2-0 down inside 16 minutes as a long night appeared to be on the cards, but they came back to win 3-2, victory secured by a smart turn and finish by Oleksiy Kashchuk in the 86th minute.
Benfica 2-3 Qarabag Stats
Benfica couldn’t save themselves, meaning Qarabag secured their and Azerbaijan’s first ever win in the Champions League.
The defeat ultimately cost Benfica coach Bruno Lage his job. He was dismissed after the match, with José Mourinho seemingly poised to take over after leaving Fenerbahce.
Tottenham vs Villarreal – Not One for the Memory Banks.
We’re going to keep this one short and sweet because it was such a drab match that we don’t want to give it attention it doesn’t deserve.
Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Villarreal saw only a single shot on target in the whole match, making it just the second Champions League game on record (since 2003-04) involving a Premier League or La Liga team to have one or fewer attempts on target.
The only other was Chelsea 0-0 Sparta Prague (one shot on target) in November 2003.
That meagre tally of one shot on target was the joint-lowest in a Champions League game since the start of 2013-14, level with last season’s game between Club Brugge and Juventus in January.
Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal Opta Stats
But what makes this fact even worse and somehow sums up the match quite well is that the one shot on target wasn’t even for the goal, which came courtesy of an own goal by Villarreal’s goalkeeper Luíz Júnior.
Hopefully none of Wednesday and Thursday’s action will be rivalling this match for poorest of the week.
UEFA Champions League Stats Opta
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