Fact Check: Best stats from this weekend's (16-17 Jan) footballing action in Europe

Manchester City v Chelsea - Premier League

Yet another weekend of exciting footballing action gave us plenty of interesting stats. The return of Premier League football and the culmination of the Spanish Super Cup was the highlight of the weekend, and stats do not disappoint us in that regard.

Manchester City (have almost) ended Chelsea's title challenge in England, while Manchester United were held to a frustrating draw at Villa Park. Elsewhere, Liverpool returned to winning ways against Brentford, outclassing their rivals in match stats.

In Spain (Saudi Arabia, actually), Real Madrid clinched the Spanish Super Cup title after defeating Athletic Club, giving us some impressive stats in the process.

In Italy, Juventus continued their march towards a place in the league's top four and look to be back in touch under Allegri. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated clash between Inter Milan and Atalanta turned out to be a snoozefest.

In Germany, Bayern and Dortmund steamrolled past Koln and Freiburg respectively, maintaining their momentum at the summit of the Bundesliga.

In France, PSG returned to winning ways against Brest, and Nice won to keep them in the hunt for the title (only just).

So here are the best stats from this weekend's footballing action:

Best Stats from Europe's top five leagues (League Wise)

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Premier League

Manchester City have another collector's item in their stats book -- they have won 12 consecutive games for the fourth time in Premier League history. The Premier League has witnessed only nine such runs, and the Citizens have accounted for four of those!
Another mouth-watering stat for City fans -- Manchester City have secured a league double over Chelsea for the fourth time in the League's history. Previously, they achieved the same in 2009-10, 2015-16 & 2017-18.
Aston Villa have not won against Manchester United in their last 23 home games (D8, L15). This is the longest winless home streak for a side against another in the Premier League.
A stat to cherish for James Ward Prowse -- he has scored 12 direct free-kick goals in the Premier League, just behind David Beckham (18).
Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, Only Thomas Muller( 64) and Lionel Messi (47) has have provided more assists than Trent Alexander Arnold (42).

Spanish Super Cup

Carlo Ancelotti has won his first Supercopa title, his fifth title as a Real Madrid manager and his 20th title as a team's head coach.
Real Madrid have won 12 Spanish Supercup titles, only behind Barcelona in the cup's history (13).
Marcelo has won his 23rd title as a Real Madrid player, tying the record of Paco Gento for the most in the club's history.
Karim Benzema has scored 24 goals for Real Madrid this season across all competitions, only behind Robert Lewandowski (34) in Europe's top five leagues.

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Bundesliga

Thomas Muller has 150 assists in league games since 2008, only behind Lionel Messi (180).
Stats galore for Robert Lewandowski -- he has achieved the milestone of 300 goals in the Bundesliga. He is just the second player ever to achieve this feat, only behind the great Gerd Muller (365).
Borussia Dortmund has scored 2000 goals in the Bundesliga, and only Bayern Munich have scored more (2629) than them in Bundesliga's history.
Robert Lewandowski scored his 16th hat-trick in the Bundesliga, just behind Gerd Muller (32).
After tying the streak of scoring in consecutive games in the Bundesliga last weekend (65), Bayern has now surpassed their record by scoring in their 66th successive game in Bundesliga.

Serie A

After a run of 39 consecutive games on the scoresheet, Inter have now failed to score for the first time since January 2021 against Udinese.
League leaders Inter have now kept five clean sheets in their last five away games for the first time in a three-points for a win era.
Atalanta have not scored in two of their last three league games. Before this run, they had failed to score in only two of their last 30 games.
Since November 2021, Juventus have kept seven clean sheets, the most for any team in Serie A in that period.
Since November 2021, Juventus have collected more points (26) than any other side in Serie A.

Ligue 1

Kylian Mbappe has scored 10 goals in each of his last six Ligue 1 seasons. No other player managed to score 10 goals in more than three seasons in that time frame.
After a run of three successive defeats, PSG has won 12 of their last 13 home games in Ligue 1.
PSG have won their last nine games against Brest, only behind Metz and Angers, against whom they have won 11 consecutive games.
Nice won their last four games against Nantes, equalling their longest run of victories against this opponent after a run between 1987 and 1989.

Stats: ESPN & Whoscored