Lots of drama go down in every UEFA Champions League season. Records are created and broken, with some offset. We will be digging deep in this article to uncover some fascinating facts and stories about UEFA Champions League that will surprise most football facts.
Relax and read each fact carefully, because you will certainly discover some jaw-dropping UEFA Champions League facts you can use to banter with your friends.
1. Karim Benzema is the oldest player to EVER score a hat trick in the Champions League.
2. The first team that won the Champions League was Real Madrid.
3. Sergio Ramos, Edgar Davids and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has the highest Champions League red card.
4. The fastest hat trick in the Champions League as of 2023, was scored by Mohamed Salah in just 6 minutes, and 12 seconds.
5. The Brazilian player Luiz Adriano, was the first player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in the Champions League.
6. The Champions League anthem was composed about 136 years before football in its earliest format was established.
7. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo tied the position for the most number of hat-tricks in the Champions League as of 2023, with about 8 each.
8. Only 22 clubs have won the Champions League from 1955 to 2023.
9. Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi share the record for most missed penalties in Champions League history as of 2023. Messi missed 5 out of 23 attempts.
10. The biggest defeat in Champions League history as of 2023, was in the 1973–74 Champions League season when Dinamo București beat Crusaders 11–0.
11. Real Madrid has the most missed goals in the Champions League with about 231 goals.
12. The most appearances in the UEFA Champions League is 183 made by Cristiano Ronaldo.
13. As of 2023, Lionel Messi with 29 goals in the round of 16, is the player that has scored the most goals in the Champions League round of 16.
14. Bayern Munich’s 8-2 defeat to Barcelona in the 2019/20 Champions League season is the most humiliating Champions League Defeats in recent history.
15. The oldest player that won the Champions League is Paolo Maldini. He won the competition at the age of 38 years 331 days in 2007.
16. Only Ronaldo and Messi have scored above 100 goals in the Champions League as of 2023.
17. The most consecutive UEFA Champions League match victory is 15 achieved by Bayern Munich, between 18 September 2019 and 25 November 2020.
18. Sir Alex Ferguson is the most appeared coach in the Champions League with about 190 appearances.
19. Arsene Wenger is the coach with the most lost matches in the Champions League. Managed 169 games and lost 50.
20. Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in the Champions league with over 140 goals followed by Lionel Messi with about 125 goals. (As of 2023)
21. The Champions League game with the most yellow cards was between Juventus and Bayern Munich with 12 yellow cards. This position is also tied for in a match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
22. João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP scored the first goal in the Champions League on 4 September 1955, when the league was called European Cup.
23. Francesco Totti is the oldest goal scorer in Champions League history just some days after he clocked 38 years.
24. The youngest player in Champions League history is Céléstine Babayaro at 16 years and 86 days old.
25. The youngest scorer in Champions League history is Ansu Fati at about 17 years old.
26. The youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League is striker Raul which was achieved at the age of 18 years and 114 days.
27. Lionel Messi has scored the most penalties (23) in the League’s history.
28. The most appeared players in the Champions League finals (6) are Paolo Maldini and Cristiano Ronaldo.
29. Lionel Messi has the most dribbles in a single League match with over 10 dribbles in 3 games.
30. Lionel Messi is the only player to have scored 5 goals in a single League game.
31. Carlo Ancelotti is the most successful coach in the League’s history with about 9 titles.
32. The only player to have won the League with 3 different clubs is Clarence Seedorf.
33. Bayern Munich is the first team ever to win the trophy after winning all 6 group games in the League.
34. The only brothers to have won the UEFA Champions League together with the same club are the De Boers and The Neville siblings.
35. The only club to have won the League cup 5 times in a row is Real Madrid.
36. The fastest to score 50 goals was Ruud van Nistelrooy in just 62 games, followed by Messi Lionel in 66 games.
37. Jens Lehmann is the first player to have received a red card in the Champions League finals.
38. The Champions League is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world.
39. Barcelona is the first team in the League’s history to have two players score 10+ goals in a single season.
40. The fastest goal in the Champions League was scored by Roy Makaay in just 10 secs.
41. The first player in the League’s history to score a goal in both quarter-final legs, both semi-final legs, and the final of the Champions League is Neymar.
42. All English clubs were banned from the League for 5 years.
43. Patrice Evra is the first player to have lost with three different clubs.
44. 2019/20 was the first season when no team from Spain reached the finals.
45. The first player to assist a goal in 3 different Champions League finals is Andres Iniesta.
46. Cristiano Ronaldo has given the most assists in UEFA Champions League history with 42 assists in a record 181 UCL games.
47. Lionel Messi is the fastest player to have scored 100 League goals with fewer games played.
48. The teams for the League are selected because of good performance in their league matches.
49. Lucas and Theo Hernandez, Michael and Brian Laudrup, Frank and Ronald De Boer, Gabi and Diego Milito, Thiago and Rafinha Alcantara, and Gary and Phil Neville are the only brothers to have won the Champions League.
50. There are only four (4) people to have scored a back-to-back Champion League hat-trick. These people are Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, Luiz Adriano and Cristiano Ronaldo.
51. The oldest goalkeeper in the history of the Champions League is Olexandr Shovkovshiy at the age of 41.
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