Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Juventus to victory over Roma. A day later, Lionel Messi did the same for Barcelona vs. Real Betis. Manchester City demolished Liverpool for their first win at Anfield in 17 years, Manchester United blew a 2-0 halftime lead at Old Trafford against Everton. AC Milan won, Zlatan Ibrahimovic crossing a personal milestone in the process. Bayern Munich had a narrow win (ahead of their Club World Cup semifinal on Monday), Borussia Dortmund had a narrow loss.
It was a cracking weekend of football, and By The Numbers has the best stats —
Premier League
2
Manchester United dropped points yet again as they drew 3-3 with Everton. This was just the second time in PL history that Manchester United had led a home game by 2+ goals at half-time and failed to win. The first? A 2-2 draw against West Bromwich Albion in October 2010.
3/65
Liverpool are the first side to lose three straight home league matches in the campaign that followed them winning the English top-flight since Chelsea did so almost 65 years ago, back in March 1956.
6
Not one that you’d have expected. Alisson Becker has now had 6 errors leading to goals since he joined the PL in 2018-19; no other Liverpool player has made more than 3 during that span.
14
Manchester City are on some run. They have now equaled the all-time winning run by an English top-flight side across all competitions, winning each of their last 14 matches – equaling Preston (ending in 1892) and Arsenal (ending in 1987). This is also the longest winning streak in Pep Guardiola’s managerial career.
27
A historic low for Liverpool. After 23 games this season, Liverpool (40) now have 27 fewer points than they did at the same stage last season (67), the biggest drop by any reigning champion at this stage of a campaign in English top-flight history.
82%
Chelsea narrowly edged out Sheffield United on Sunday, thanks to a Jorginho penalty that made it 2-1. Nine of Jorginho’s 11 PL goals have come from the penalty spot (82%) — this is the highest ratio of any player with 10+ goals in the competition’s history.
208
Harry Kane has now scored 208 goals in 317 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, making him the joint-second highest scorer in the club’s history. What makes this a truly funky stat is that he’s equaled Bobby Smith, who also scored 208 goals in 317 appearances.
500
Hugo Lloris’ appearance in Spurs’ 2-0 win over West Brom was his 500th top-flight league appearance. Since making his debut for Nice in March 2006, he’s played more games across the big-five European leagues than any other player.
Serie A
10
Inter Milan eased past Fiorentina 2-0 on Friday, Achraf Hakimi assisting Ivan Perisic for the second of those goals. With that assist, Hakimi has become the only defender to have been involved in 10 goals in the Top-5 European Leagues this season: 6 goals + 4 assists.
19
Lazio have gained 19 points since the start of 2021, only Manchester City (24) and Monaco (21) have done better in the top-5 European Leagues.
500
With his brace against Crotone, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now scored 500 goals across his various clubs. FIVE HUNDRED. PSG – 156, Milan – 82, Inter – 66, LA Galaxy – 53, Ajax – 48, Manchester United – 29, Juventus – 26, Barcelona – 22, Malmo – 18.
La Liga
7
Real Madrid clawed back a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 thanks to a brace from… Raphael Varane. With that, Real Madrid’s defenders have scored seven braces in La Liga in the 21st century, more than any other team in the competition in this period (2x Roberto Carlos, 2x Sergio Ramos, Nacho, Ivan Helguera & now Varane).
Messi-Ronaldo watch
Cristiano Ronaldo scored, Lionel Messi scored. In other news, the sky remains blue.
10
Ronaldo has a total of 10 career goals against Roma, tied for his most against any Italian side (he also scored 10 against….Juventus).
19
Roma are the 19th club he has scored double-digit goals against (Roma, Juventus, and Tottenham are the only clubs from outside of Spain).
84
Ronaldo has been directly involved in 84 goals since his Serie A debut (2018/19), thanks to 68 goals and 16 assists, more than any other player in the league during this period.
136
Messi scored just 136 seconds after coming on as a substitute in this match against Betis, his fastest goal as sub for Barcelona in La Liga. It was also his 10th goal in his last 6 games vs. Real Betis (26 goals in 24 games in total against them).
(Stats courtesy ESPN’s Stats & Information Group)