Records and Milestones set on Champions League Matchday 2: Cristiano Ronaldo reigns supreme
Matchday 2 in the UEFA Champions League saw a number of records broken apart from some personal milestones. While most of the big sides won three points comfortable, ever-present Premier League sides such as Arsenal and Chelsea fell to defeats to put a spanner in their works as they look to qualify for the knockout stages. However, the two Manchester clubs ensured England’s UEFA coefficient isn’t in any trouble just yet, with Italian sides also having mixed results.
Iker Casillas officially became the player with the most appearances in the Champions League ever. He was tied with compatriot Xavi Hernandez on 151 before Porto faced Chelsea. Casillas is now on 152. The next highest among active players is Cristiano Ronaldo (117).
| RANK | PLAYER | APPEARANCES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iker Casillas | 152 |
| 2 | Xavi Hernandez | 151 |
| 3 | Raul Gonzalez | 142 |
| 4 | Ryan Giggs | 141 |
| 5 | Clarence Seedorf | 125 |
| 6 | Paul Scholes | 124 |
| 7 | Roberto Carlos | 120 |
| 8 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 117 |
| 9 | Carles Puyol | 115 |
| 10 | Thierry Henry | 112 |
Robert Lewandowski became the joint fourth-fastest player to score 25 goals in the Champions League. That is the same as Barcelona forward Lionel Messi took to reach the same mark. The Polish striker did it in 42 games.
| RANK | PLAYER | APPEARANCES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Filippo Inzaghi | 30 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | 30 | |
| 3 | Mario Gomez | 39 |
| 4 | Karim Benzema | 41 |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | 42 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 42 |
Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick was also his first in the Champions League for Bayern Munich but his second in the competition overall. He had grabbed a hat-trick when he scored four goals in a semi-final against Real Madrid back when he was at Borussia Dortmund. In doing so, he became the ninth player to score a Champions League hat-trick for two different teams.
| # | PLAYER | CLUBS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Filippo Inzaghi | Juventus and AC Milan |
| 2 | Michael Owen | Liverpool and Manchester United |
| 3 | Samuel Eto'o | Barcelona and Inter Milan |
| 4 | Marco Simone | AC Milan and Monaco |
| 5 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United |
| 6 | Roy Makaay | Deportivo and Bayern Munich |
| 7 | Andriy Shevchenko | Dynamo Kyiv and AC Milan |
| 8 | Didier Drogba | Marseille and Chelsea |
| 9 | Robert Lewandowski | Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich |
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez became the highest scoring Uruguayan player in the Champions League with his winner against Bayer Leverkusen. Suarez now has 31 UCL goals followed very closely by Edinson Cavani (30 goals).
Olympiacos finally won their first ever Champions League game in 13 attempts on English soil when they beat Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium. They had lost all 12 of their previous away matches against England opposition. They are also the first Greek team in the UCL era to score 3 goals away against English opposition.
This is the first time a single matchday saw 5 Own Goals being scored – Darijo Srna (Donetsk), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray), Nenad Eric (Astana), Lionel Carole (Galatasaray) and Andreas Christensen (Borussia Monchengladbach).
While Sergio Aguero is struggling in the Premier League, he scored his 15th goal in 15 UCL starts for Manchester City.
This is the third time Juan Mata has scored and assisted a goal in the Champions League. He has done it at Valencia, Chelsea and now Manchester United.
PAGE 2: RONALDOOOOOO!