UCL Thursday Night: What the stats say

The Uefa Champions League roars into Thursday night with six compelling fixtures that continue the drama of Matchday 1. Catch all the action live on SuperSport.

As Europe's elite battle for early dominance in the newly expanded 36-club league phase, fans can expect tactical intrigue, individual brilliance, and high-stakes tension across the continent. From Lisbon to Manchester, the spotlight shifts to clubs eager to stamp their authority and set the tone for the campaign ahead.

Two standout clashes headline the evening: Manchester City host Napoli at the Etihad in a heavyweight showdown featuring Kevin De Bruyne’s return to familiar turf in new colors, while Newcastle United welcome Barcelona to St. James’ Park in a thrilling test of Premier League grit versus LaLiga flair.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt face Galatasaray in a clash of passionate fanbases, Club Brugge take on Monaco, and Sporting Lisbon look to assert dominance against Kairat. Copenhagen v Leverkusen rounds out a night brimming with continental flavour.

WHAT THE STATS SAY

Club Brugge v Monaco

Club Brugge have played Monaco four times before in major European competition, suffering a 6-2 aggregate defeat at the Round of 16 stage of the 1988-89 European Cup before going unbeaten against them during the 2018-19 Uefa Champions League group stage (W1 D1).

Monaco have won just one of their four away games across major European competition against Belgian sides (D2 L1), a 1-0 victory over K. Lierse SK during the 1997-98 Uefa Champions League group stage.

Club Brugge have won just one of their eight Uefa Champions League games against sides from France (D2 L5), a 4-0 victory over Monaco in November 2018.

Monaco have won just one of their last 12 away Uefa Champions League games (D5 L6), a 1-0 success over Bologna in last season’s league phase.

Club Brugge made the fewest changes to their starting XI in the Uefa Champions League last season, making just 10 changes across their 12 matches. Six players started every game for them in the competition last term: Brandon Mechele, Simon Mignolet, Joel Ordóñez, Maxim De Cuyper, Hans Vanaken and Christos Tzolis.

Monaco reached the play-off stage of last season’s Uefa Champions League, losing 4-3 on aggregate to Benfica. It’s the first time they’ve featured in the competition in consecutive seasons since doing so between 2016/17 and 2018/19.

Hans Vanaken has made 50 appearances for Club Brugge in this competition; the most by one player for a Belgian club in European Cup/Uefa Champions League history.

During their games in the 2024-25 Uefa Champions League, Monaco matches saw 33 goals scored in total – the most in a single campaign for the French club in the competition since 2016-17 (42).

Christos Tzolis created 27 chances in the Uefa Champions League last season; the most by a Club Brugge player in a single edition on record (since 2003-04).

Last season in the Uefa Champions League among players to make 8+ appearances, Monaco’s Lamine Camara recovered possession 7.1 times per 90 on average – the fourth-highest tally in the tournament.

Copenhagen v Bayer Leverkusen

Copenhagen have met Bayer Leverkusen just twice before in European competition, losing twice during a qualifying tie in 2014-15 by a 7-2 aggregate scoreline.

Copenhagen have won just one of their 14 major European matches against German sides (D5 L8), though they did win their last against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 in the Uefa Conference League in February last season.

Bayer Leverkusen have only played Danish opposition twice before in major European competition, losing 3-0 on aggregate to Brøndby IF in a Uefa Cup Round of 16 clash during the 1990-91 season.

Copenhagen have won just two of their last 12 Uefa Champions League games (D5 L7), though both victories during that time have come on home soil (4-3 v Manchester United in November 2023 and 1-0 v Galatasaray in December 2023).

Bayer Leverkusen will be playing in their second successive Uefa Champions League campaign, with this the first time they’ve achieved that feat since featuring in the competition for four consecutive campaigns between 2013-14 and 2016-17.

Copenhagen have scored just 34 goals in their 40 Uefa Champions League games, a rate of 0.85 per match. Among the 57 other sides to play 40+ games in the competition, only three have a lower goals-per-game ratio.

Bayer Leverkusen won five of their 10 Uefa Champions League matches last season (D1 L4); only ever managing more victories in the competition during the 2001-02 season, when they won eight matches en route to the final.

Copenhagen’s Thomas Delaney has made 38 appearances in the Uefa Champions League during his career, the fifth-most of any Danish player in the competition’s history.

Florian Wirtz – who has since left to join Liverpool – netted six of Bayer Leverkusen’s goals in the Uefa Champions League last season, just two fewer than the rest of his teammates combined (8).

No player has more goal involvements for Copenhagen in the Uefa Champions League than Lukas Lerager (4), who managed three goals and an assist during their last appearance in the tournament in 2023-24.

Eintracht Frankfurt v Galatasaray

Eintracht Frankfurt and Galatasaray have previously met twice before in European competition, with the Turkish side progressing from a Round of 32 tie 1-0 on aggregate during the 1992-93 season.

Eintracht Frankfurt have lost just one of their eight prior European matches against Turkish opposition (W3 D4), though that sole defeat came against Galatasaray in November 1992 (1-0).

Galatasaray have won just two of their 12 Uefa Champions League games against German sides (D3 L7), a 4-1 win v Hertha BSC in October 1999 and a 3-2 win v Schalke in March 2013.

This is just the second season that Eintracht Frankfurt have appeared in the Uefa Champions League after 2022-23 when they reached the last 16 stage. During that campaign, they won just one of their four home games (D1 L2).

Galatasaray have won just three of their last 32 Uefa Champions League (D9 L20), scoring multiple goals in just seven of those matches.

Galatasaray have lost 16 of their last 20 away games in the Uefa Champions League, with their only win during that time coming against Manchester United at Old Trafford in October 2023 (3-2).

Dino Toppmöller has won half of his games in charge of Eintracht Frankfurt in major European competition (P20 W10 D3 L7), though his only prior experience of managing in the Uefa Champions League saw him fail to win any of his six qualifying matches in charge of F91 Dudelange between 2016-17 and 2018-19 (D2 L4).

During Eintracht Frankfurt’s last Uefa Champions League campaign in 2022-23, Mario Götze recorded two assists to take his overall goal contributions tally in the competition to 26 (12 goals, 14 assists) – the 10th most of any German player in competition history right behind Galatasaray’s Ilkay Gündogan with 27.

Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen has netted nine goals previously in the Uefa Champions League; the joint-most by a Nigerian player in the competition, alongside Obafemi Martins.

Galatasaray’s Leroy Sané has been directly involved in 39 goals in 73 Uefa Champions League games (23 goals, 16 assists), scoring or assisting every 125 minutes. The only Germany player who has been involved in more goals in Champions League history is Thomas Müller (82 - 57 goals, 25 assists).

Manchester City v Napoli

All four of the previous meetings between Manchester City and Napoli in Europe have been in the group stage of the Uefa Champions League. The Citizens went winless in 2011-12 (D1 L1), before winning home and away against them in 2017-18.

Napoli have never won away to an English side in any European competition (P12 W0 D3 L9), losing at least once against six of the seven different teams they have faced (Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool and Manchester City), with Leicester being the only exception (2-2 in Uefa Europa League in 2021-22).

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has faced Napoli counterpart Antonio Conte on seven occasions across all competitions, while he has lost (4) more than he has won (3). Of managers with at least two wins over Guardiola, Conte is one of only three individuals who has won more often than he has lost, along with Jürgen Klopp (11 wins, 10 defeats) and Luis Enrique (three wins, two defeats).

This will be the 17th Uefa Champions League campaign for Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola as a manager, taking him level with José Mourinho. Only three managers have been involved in more than 17 editions of the competition (since the 1992-93 rebrand): Carlo Ancelotti (22), Arsène Wenger (20) and Alex Ferguson (18).

Napoli will be the fifth different team Antonio Conte has managed in the Uefa Champions Legue (also Juventus, Chelsea, Internazionale and Tottenham), with Carlo Ancelotti (8) and Claudia Ranieri (6) the only Italians to take charge of as many clubs in the competition (since 1992/93).

Manchester City lost five of their final seven games in the 2024-25 Uefa Champions League campaign (W1 D1), as many defeats as they had suffered in their previous 61 games in the competition combined (W43 D13 L5).

Napoli and former Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne could face the Citizens for the first time since leaving the club; in the Uefa Champions League he recorded 25 assists for City, 10 more than any other player for the club in the competition.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is one goal away from reaching 50 in the Uefa Champions League (48 appearances), and looks all but assured to set a new record for fewest appearances to 50 UCL goals. The current best is 62 games, achieved by Ruud van Nistelrooij in 2007.

In the league phase of the Uefa Champions League last season, only two players - Vinícius Júnior (8.3) and Bradley Barcola (7.5) – averaged more carries ending in the penalty area per 90 than Napoli’s Noa Lang (7 – min. 300 minutes played).

Across all the major European competitions in 2024-25 (Uefa Champions, Europa & Conference League), Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki ranked first for chances created (46) and expected assists (5.85), while he was joint-first for total assists (8), along with Raphinha and Svit Seslar.

Newcastle United v Barcelona

This will be the fifth competitive meeting between Newcastle United and Barcelona, with the Magpies winning the first clash 3-2 in September 1997, before losing each of their next three against their Spanish opponents.

Barcelona have won 12 of their last 16 Uefa Champions League games against English opposition (D2 L2), scoring 2.1 goals per game on average during that run.

Newcastle have previously faced Spanish opposition 11 times in major European competition, winning six of those matches (L5), including each of their last three in succession.

Barcelona were defeated in their last away Uefa Champions League game on English soil (4-0 v Liverpool) and have only lost consecutive such matches on one occasion previously (v Arsenal in 2011 and Chelsea in 2012).

Newcastle have won just one of their last eight Uefa Champions League games (D3 L4), a 4-1 home win against Paris Saint-Germain during the 2023-24 group stage.

Of managers with 10+ games in charge of a team in the Uefa Champions League, the two sides with the highest goals per game average are both Hansi Flick sides – 3.2 with Bayern Munich (2019-2021) and 3.1 with current club Barcelona.

Barcelona’s Raphinha was directly involved in more goals than any other player in the Uefa Champions League last season (21 – 13 goals, eight assists). Of players to assist 10+ goals in the Uefa Champions League, the Brazilian has the best assists-per-game ratio of anyone in the competition’s history (0.46 – 12 in 26 appearances).

Only three current Newcastle players have scored for the club in the Uefa Champions League; two of which are defenders (Dan Burn and Fabian Schär), along with Joelinton.

Barcelona forward Marcus Rashford has been directly involved in eight goals in 11 career starts against Newcastle (five goals, three assists), including four in six starts at St. James’ Park against them (two goals, two assists).

Lamine Yamal’s next outing for Barcelona in the Uefa Champions League will see him become the player with the most appearances in the competition while aged 18 or younger (currently on 23 – level with Paris SG’s Warren Zaïre-Emery).

Sporting CP v Kairat Almaty

This will be Sporting CP’s third ever match against Kazakhstani opposition in major European competition, after winning one and drawing one against Astana during a Uefa Europa League last 32 tie in 2017-18.

Kairat Almaty will play Portuguese opposition in European competition for the first time in this match, the last time they faced opposition from a new country saw them defeat Finnish outfit KuPS 3-2 on aggregate in the second round of Uefa Champions League qualifying this season.

Sporting have failed to win any of their last six Uefa Champions League games (D2 L4), never having a longer run before in the competition (exc. qualifiers).

Kairat have won just three of their last 16 games in European competition (D5 L8), a run that has seen them fail to score on eight occasions.

Across all European competitions, Sporting have lost just two of their last nine home games (W4 D3) though both defeats have come across their last three such matches.

Kairat are winless across their last eight away European matches (D3 L5), a run which has seen them score just four goals in total.

Among the 24 teams to progress from last season’s Uefa Champions League league phase, only Juventus (12) and Brest (10) scored fewer goals than Sporting CP (13). The Portuguese outfit also recorded the fifth-fewest shots on target (43) and fifth-lowest xG tally (12.98).

Kairat qualified for this season’s Uefa Champions League by eliminating Celtic in the play-off round on penalties (0-0 on aggregate). They progressed despite averaging just 29 per cent possession across the two legs, and having less than half as many touches in the opposition box (25) as opponents Celtic (51).

54 per cent of Sporting CP’s goals in the Uefa Champions League last season were either scored (6) or assisted (1) by Viktor Gyökeres (7/13), who has since left to join Arsenal. Indeed, apart from the Swedish striker, no other Sporting player scored more than once in the competition last term.

Only one player from Kazakhstan has ever scored in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League, with Eduard Son scoring three times for Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the 1989-90 edition (two against Swarovski Tirol and one against Linfield).

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