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UCL Tuesday Night: What the stats say

football16 September 2025 06:51
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The Uefa Champions League returns tonight with a thrilling line-up of six matches, promising top-tier European football action. 

Fans can catch every moment live on SuperSport starting from 6pm, as Europe's elite clubs begin their quest for glory.

ATHLETIC CLUB V ARSENAL

This will be the first competitive meeting between Athletic Club and Arsenal, and just the third time the Lions have faced an English opponent in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League (eliminated by Manchester United in 1956-57 quarterfinal and Liverpool in 1983-84 last 16).

If Arsenal win this game, they will become the first side in European Cup/Uefa Champions League history to win six consecutive matches against Spanish sides. Indeed, they have won all five of their matches against Spanish opposition across the last two campaigns (two v Real Madrid, two v Sevilla and one v Girona).

Athletic Club have only lost two of their previous 10 home games against English sides in major European competition (W5 D3), although one of those did come in the most recent one, losing 3-0 against Manchester United in last season’s Uefa Europa League (semifinal first leg).

This will be Athletic Club’s first outing in the Uefa Champions League since the 2014-15 season, which was also under Ernesto Valverde, in the second of his three spells as club manager. Athletic have won six of their seven European matches played at San Mamés since Valverde returned in 2022 (L1).

Across the last two editions of the Uefa Champions League, only Real Madrid (33) have accumulated more points in the group/league phase than Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal (32 – P14 W10 D2 L2).

Arsenal only lost three of their 14 games in the Uefa Champions League last season (W9 D2), with all three defeats coming against 2024-25 finalists Paris SG (L2) and Internazionale (L1).

Athletic Club boss Ernesto Valverde has only lost nine of his 42 games as a manager in the Uefa Champions League (W23 D10). Among Spanish managers with 10+ matches in the competition, only Pep Guardiola has a lower loss rate (17.1 per cent) than Valverde (21.4 per cent).

Arsenal have conceded just 18 goals in 24 Uefa Champions League matches under Mikel Arteta. Among teams with 20+ games under a manager, only four sides in the competition have a better goals conceded per game average (0.75): Fabio Capello’s Milan (0.38), Louis van Gaal’s Ajax (0.63), Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona (0.68) and Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona (0.71).

Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres was directly involved in seven goals in eight appearances in the Uefa Champions League last season (six goals, one assist for Sporting CP), averaging a goal or assist every 87 minutes played. Only one Arsenal player had a minutes per goal involvement ratio under 100 (Bukayo Saka, 95).

No non-Spanish player has ever appeared for Athletic Club in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League, while two could do so in this game: Ghanaian Iñaki Williams and Moroccan Maroan Sannadi.

PSV EINDHOVEN V UNION SAINT-GILLOISE

This will be the first game between a Dutch and Belgian side in the Uefa Champions League since December 2009 (AZ 1-1 Standard Liège). Of the eight all-time meetings between clubs of the two nations in the European Cup/Champions League, Dutch sides have won on just one occasion (Ajax 2-0 Club Brugge in October 2003 – D3 L4).

PSV have played four previous games against Belgian sides in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League, failing to win each match (D1 L3) – all against Anderlecht between 1991 and 2000.

Union Saint-Gilloise will play in the Uefa Champions League for the first time in their history. The last Belgian side to win their first ever match in the European Cup/Champions League was RWD Molenbeek in 1975 (3-2 v Viking), with the last four debutants all failing to do so (D3 L1).

Union Saint-Gilloise are featuring in major European competition for a fourth consecutive season, having not appeared in a single campaign since 1964/65 beforehand.

In the 2024-25 edition, PSV were knocked out of the Uefa Champions League at the last 16 stage by Arsenal, losing 9-3 on aggregate. During that tie, they became the first side in competition history (since 1992-93) to concede seven goals at home in a knockout stage match.

PSV have lost their opening game in each of their previous four Uefa Champions League campaigns (2016-17, 2018-19, 2023-24 and 2024-25), conceding 12 goals and only scoring once in the process.

Union Saint-Gilloise boss Sébastien Pocognoli will be taking charge of a Uefa Champions League for the very first time – the Belgian played five games in the competition in the 2009/10 season for AZ in the group stage, with his one assist coming against Belgian opposition in Standard Liège.

Only Bayern Munich (8.4) had a lower PPDA average than PSV (9.6) in the Uefa Champions League last season, while only overall winners Paris SG (39) produced more shot-ending high turnovers in the previous edition than the Dutch side (29).

Union SG’s Kevin Mac Allister was the joint-top scoring defender in the Uefa Europa League last season (3 – level with Diogo Dalot and Alessio Romagnoli), and has scored in both of his away games in European competition in 2025 (two goals – v Rangers and Ajax).

Of players to make 10+ appearances in the Uefa Champions League last season, only Barcelona’s Marc Casadó (4.7) averaged more tackles per 90 than PSV’s Ismael Saibari (3.7). He also netted the joint-most goals for his side (3), while ranking first for tackles (30), second for duels won (54) and joint-second for possession won (44).

JUVENTUS V BORUSSIA DORTMUND

This will be the 10th meeting between Juventus and Borussia Dortmund in European competition, with the Old Lady winning six of the previous nine and only losing twice (D1).

Borussia Dortmund have lost five of their last six away games against Italian sides in the Uefa Champions League (W1). This includes a 2-1 defeat at Bologna last season, which was the only victory the Rossoblù managed in eight games during the league phase.

Juventus have never lost when playing their opening game of a European Cup/Uefa Champions League campaign at home, winning 11 and drawing three of the 14 such matches. They won 3-1 against PSV to begin the previous edition.

Borussia Dortmund have won their opening game in three of the last four Uefa Champions League campaigns, only failing to do so against Paris SG in the 2023-24 season (2-0 defeat).

Igor Tudor is set to take charge of Juventus in the Uefa Champions League in 2025-26, which would see him become the fourth individual to both play for and manage the Old Lady in the competition, after Ciro Ferrara, Antonio Conte and Andrea Pirlo.

Borussia Dortmund were only behind for 13.2 per cent of their total match time in the Uefa Champions League last season; only runners-up Internazionale (6.6 per cent) trailed for a lower proportion of their games.

Borussia Dortmund scored more goals following a high turnover (5) than any other team in the Uefa Champions League last season, while they also converted the highest per centage of their shot-ending high turnovers into goals (24 per cent - 5/21).

Borussia Dortmund netted ten goals from the 75th minute onwards in the Uefa Champions League last season; the most of any team (excluding extra time). Striker Serhou Guirassy either scored (4) or assisted (1) five of those 10 late goals.

Juventus striker Jonathan David was directly involved in nine goals in 10 Uefa Champions League appearances in 2024-25 (seven goals, two assists). Among players with 500+ minutes played, only three individuals had a better minutes per goal involvement ratio than the Canadian (83): Raphinha (58), Serhou Guirassy (64) and Charles De Ketelaere (78).

Serhou Guirassy scored 13 goals in 14 appearances for Borussia Dortmund in the Uefa Champions League last season; the most ever by an African player in a single European Cup/UCL campaign.

REAL MADRID V MARSEILLE

Real Madrid have won all four of their games against Marseille in European competition. If they win this match, Marseille will be the opponent they have beaten the most times in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League while maintaining a 100 per cent record (also 4/4 v Apoel Nicosia and Zürich).

Only against FC Porto (5) have Marseille suffered more defeats in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League than they have against Real Madrid (4). Indeed, Los Blancos are the opponent they’ve faced most often across the two competitions while losing every time (4/4).

This will be the 27th time that Real Madrid have begun a European Cup/Uefa Champions League campaign with a home match, while they’ve only been beaten on one of the previous 26 occasions (W23 D2): a 3-2 defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk in 2020-21.

Marseille have faced Real Madrid in their opening game of a Uefa Champions League game once previously, doing so in September 2003 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Didier Drogba opened the scoring for the French side on that occasion, but they would go on to lose 4-2.

No French team has ever won away to Real Madrid in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League. In 15 previous attempts, they have lost 11 of them (D4) and failed to keep a clean sheet on every occasion (42 goals conceded, at an average of 2.8 per game).

Xabi Alonso will become the third individual to have both managed and played for Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League since 1992-93 (47 apps), after Zinedine Zidane (45 apps, 53 games as manager) and Santiago Solari (48 apps, five games as manager).

Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi took charge of six Uefa Champions League matches in 2021-22 in the group stage with Shakhtar Donetsk, failing to win any of those games (D2 L4). They only scored two goals and conceded 12 times.

Kylian Mbappé scored seven goals for Real Madrid in this competition last season; the joint-most by a player in their first European Cup/Uefa Champions League campaign for Real Madrid, along with Cristiano Ronaldo (2009-10) and Justo Tejada (1961-62).

Among players with 5+ appearances against Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League, Marseille’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has the best minutes per goal ratio against them in the competition (92 – five goals in six appearances). He is also the only player to score in four consecutive Champions League appearances against them, which remains a current streak.

Franco Mastantuono could become the youngest ever Real Madrid player to start in a Uefa Champions League game (18y 33d), as well as the second youngest Argentinean to start in the competition, after Lionel Messi in December 2004 (17y 166d v Shakhtar Donetsk).

BENFICA V QARABAG

Benfica’s hosting of Qarabag will be the first game between a Portuguese and Azerbaijani side in European Cup/Uefa Champions League history.

Qarabag are making their 12th appearance in the group stage/league phase of a major European competition (Uefa Champions League/Uefa Europa League/Uefa Conference League), nine more than all other Azerbaijani sides combined.

Benfica have won their opening game in two of the previous three Uefa Champions League campaigns (L1), after only doing so once in the previous seven between 2014-15 and 2021-22 (W1 D2 L4).

In their prior Uefa Champions League campaign in 2017-18, Qarabag failed to win any of their six matches (D2 L4), scoring just two goals in a group with Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea and Roma.

Qarabag’s only previous tournament opener in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League was a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea in 2017-18, with five different Blues players scoring against them in that match (plus a Maksim Medvedev own goal).

Vangelis Pavlidis scored seven goals in the Uefa Champions League for Benfica last season; the most in the competition for the Águias since Sergei Yuran also netted seven in 1991/92. Indeed, the last players to score more in a single season in the Uefa Champions League/European Cup for the club were Eusébio and José Torres, who both notched nine goals each in 1964/65.

Across his career with Qarabag, Abdellah Zoubir has made 51 appearances in total across major European competitions (excl. qualifiers) - the second-most of any player for the club, after only Qara Qarayev (54).

37-year-old defender Nicolás Otamendi won 68 per cent of his duels in the Uefa Champions League in 2024-25 (92/136); the best success rate of any player to contest 100+ duels in the previous edition.

No Azerbaijani player has scored or assisted for Qarabag in the Uefa Champions League to date, with their four combined goal involvements in the competition coming from a Spaniard (Míchel), Brazilian (Pedro Henrique), South African (Dino Ndovlu) and a Haitian (Donald Guerrier).

Benfica defender Amar Dedic completed 78 per cent of his attempted dribbles in the Uefa Champions League last season (18/23); the highest success rate of any player (min. 20 dribbles).

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V VILLARREAL

This will be the first meeting between Tottenham and Villarreal in European competition, with Spurs winning just one of their last 13 matches against Spanish opposition in major European competition (D5 L7).

Villarreal have played 14 matches against English opponents in the Uefa Champions League and are still looking for their first victory (D6 L8), while losing each of the last seven in a row. Over half of their defeats in the competition have been against English opposition (57 per cent - 8/14).

This will be third time that Villarreal have played their opening game of a Uefa Champions League campaign against an English side (out of five seasons). The previous two were both against Manchester United and both finished 0-0, in 2005-06 and 2008-09.

Tottenham have only won their opening game of a European Cup/Uefa Champions League campaign in two of their seven attempts (D2 L3). However, those two have arrived on the last two occasions where they have played their opener at home: 2-0 v Marseille in 2022-23 and 3-1 v Borussia Dortmund in 2017-18.

Villarreal’s last match in this competition came in the semifinals of the 2021-22 edition (2-5 on aggregate v Liverpool), where they became the seventh different Spanish team to reach the last four stage in a European Cup/Uefa Champions League campaign (after Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Sociedad, Valencia, and Deportivo de La Coruña).

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank will take charge of a team in the Uefa Champions League for the first time – in fact, his only previous experience of managing in European competition came in qualifying for the Uefa Europa League, winning just three of 10 matches with Brøndby IF (D4 L3).

42 per cent of Tottenham’s goals in the Uefa Champions League (since 1992-93) have been scored by Harry Kane or Son Heung-min (37/89). Following the departures of both, the only current Tottenham player with more than one goal for the club in the competition is Richarlison (2).

Villarreal forward Georges Mikautadze has been directly involved in seven goals in eight starts in major European competition to date (four goals, three assists), with all of those coming for Lyon in the Uefa Europa League last season.

Randal Kolo Muani could feature for a fourth different team (Tottenham) in the Uefa Champions League since the start of 2022-23, having previously appeared for Eintracht Frankfurt, Paris SG and Juventus. No active Champions League player has played for as many as four different teams in this period.

Villarreal defender Juan Foyth made his Uefa Champions League debut for Tottenham back in December 2017 (v Apoel Nicosia). Indeed, the Argentinean remains the youngest player to start a home game for the club in the competition (19y 328d in that match).

By:Opta

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