UCL Wednesday Night: What the stats say

The Uefa Champions League continues 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.

Olympiakos v Pafos

This will be just the third fixture played between a Greek and Cypriot side in European Cup/Uefa Champions League history, following PAOK Salonika v Omonia Nicosia in 1976-77 (first round, two legs) and Panathinaikos v Anorthosis Famagusta in 2008-09 (group stage, home and away).

Olympiakos will face off against a Cypriot side in major European competition for the first time since 2016-17, when they were beaten home and away by Apoel Nicosia in the Uefa Europa League group stage.

Pafos will be the eighth Cypriot team to appear in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League, and first since Apoel Nicosia in the 2017-18 edition (eliminated in the group stage).

Since a run of three wins in a row between September and November 2015, Olympiakos have lost 16 of their last 20 games in the Uefa Champions League (W2 D2) – among all teams to play 100+ games in the European Cup/Champions League since 1955/56, only Sporting CP (52 per cent) have lost a higher ratio of their matches than the Greek side (51.9 per cent, 81 defeats in 156 games).

Prior to 2025-26, the only previous major European competition campaign for Pafos came last season in the Uefa Conference League. They won five of their 10 games in the tournament (D2 L3), and were eliminated in the last 16 by Swedish side Djurgården (3-1 on aggregate).

José Luis Mendilibar has managed two games in the Uefa Champions League previously, drawing both with Sevilla in the 2023/24 group stage, against Lens and PSV. He’ll be the third Spaniard to manage Olympiakos in the competition, along with Ernesto Valverde and Míchel.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, the player with the most goals scored in major European competition is Olympiakos forward Ayoub El Kaabi (21 goals in 23 appearances). In this period, he has netted 10 goals in 14 games in the Uefa Europa League and 11 goals in nine outings in the Conference League.

Mislav Orsic has averaged a goal every other game in his Uefa Champions League career, scoring six goals in 12 appearances (all for former club Dinamo Zagreb).

Olympiakos forward Mehdi Taremi averaged the most high-intensity pressures per 90 of any player in the Uefa Champions League last season (76 – min. 500 minutes played). Indeed, he was one of only two players to make 100+ in a league phase match last term (102 v Manchester City), along with Julián Alvarez (108 v Bayer Leverkusen).

Mislav Orsic is one of only 10 players in Uefa Champions League history (since 1992-93) to score a hat-trick on his debut in the competition. Indeed, since he did so for Dinamo Zagreb in September 2019 (v Atalanta), only one other player has managed to do so (Ajax’s Sébastien Haller v Sporting CP in September 2021).

Slavia Prague v Bodø/Glimt

Slavia Prague will face Norwegian opposition for just the second time in European competition during this fixture, drawing their only prior such match v Viking 2-2 during the 2005-06 Uefa Cup.

Bodø/Glimt have won each of their prior two European clashes with Czech opponents, beating Bohemians 1905 twice during Uefa Conference League qualifying in 2023-24 (7-2 on aggregate).

Slavia Prague and Bodø/Glimt have a combined 12 matches between them in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League (all 12 by Slavia); the lowest total of any fixture on MD1 of the 2025-26 edition.

This will be Bodø/Glimt’s fifth consecutive season of competing in major European competition, having had three campaigns in the Uefa Conference League and two in the Uefa Europa League (played in both in 2022-23). They reached the semifinals of the Europa League last season, losing to Tottenham Hotspur.

Slavia Prague have avoided defeat in their opening game of their previous two European Cup/Uefa Champions League campaigns, beating FCSB 2-1 in 2007-08 and drawing 1-1 against Internazionale in 2019-20.

Under manager Kjetil Knutsen, Bodø/Glimt have won 15 of their 22 home games in major European competition (D1 L6), but only three of their 22 away games (D9 L10).

Slavia Prague have only won one of their last 10 games in major European competition (D2 L7), and are winless in the last seven (D2 L5); all of which were in the Uefa Europa League last term.

Bodø/Glimt ranked first for build-up attacks (53) and joint-first for goals scored following build-up attacks (4) in the Uefa Europa League last season. Indeed, they also had the highest average sequence time in the competition last term (11.9 seconds for open play sequences).

Tomás Chory scored 57 per cent of Slavia Prague’s goals in the Uefa Europa League last season (4/7), while he has scored in all four of his games at the Fortuna Arena for the club in major European competition (four goals).

Bodø/Glimt’s Kasper Høgh was the joint-leading goalscorer in the 2024-25 Uefa Europa League with seven goals, level with Ayoub El Kaabi and Bruno Fernandes. He is just three goals from becoming the club’s all-time top goalscorer in major European competition (Amahl Pellegrino – 9).

Ajax v Internazionale

Ajax have failed to win any of their four Uefa Champions League games against Internazionale (D1 L3), never facing a side more often in the competition without ever winning.

Internazionale are unbeaten across all 12 of their Uefa Champions League games against sides from the Netherlands (W9 D3), never facing sides from a country more often in the competition without suffering defeat.

After winning their first three Uefa Champions League games against Italian sides without conceding a single goal, Ajax have since won just three of their last 25 (D9 L13) – keeping just three clean sheets in that time.

Johnny Heitinga will become the fifth different person to both play for and manage Ajax in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League, after Johan Cruijff, Ronald Koeman, Frank de Boer and Danny Blind. All 12 of the former defender’s appearances for Ajax in the competition came under either Koeman or Blind.

Between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons, Internazionale kept 20 clean sheets in the Uefa Champions League, five more than any other team. However, they conceded 13 goals in their final four games of last season, shipping at least two goals in each match.

Internazionale had the oldest starting XI in terms of average age in the Uefa Champions League last season (31y 34d), with nine of their 15 starting line-ups having an average age of 30 or older.

No team scored more goals from crosses than Internazionale (7) in the Uefa Champions League last season, with over a quarter of their goals in 2024-25 being netted in this fashion (27 per cent - 7/26).

Internazionale’s Lautaro Martínez scored with 39 per cent of his shots in the Uefa Champions League last season (nine goals from 23 attempts); the highest conversion rate of any player to attempt 15+ shots.

Kenneth Taylor was both Ajax’s top goalscorer (15) and joint-top assist provider (8) in all competitions during the 2024-25 season, while since he made his first start in major European competition in 2022-23, he is also the team’s top scorer in Europe (8 goals).

Internazionale’s Manuel Akanji completed 90 per cent of his passes made under high-intensity pressure in the Uefa Champions League last season (226/251); the highest success rate of any defender (min. 200 attempts).

Bayern Munich v Chelsea

Bayern Munich have won three of their last four games against Chelsea in the Uefa Champions League (D1, lost on penalties in the final 2011-12), including winning both legs against them in the 2019-20 last 16 in their most recent meetings (3-0 away and 4-1 at home).

Chelsea have lost 60 per cent of their games against Bayern Munich in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League (W1 D1 L3); their highest loss per centage against any side they’ve faced on 5+ occasions across the two competitions. Indeed, only Barcelona (4) have more total wins against them in the European Cup/Champions League.

Bayern Munich have only lost one of their last 11 home games against English sides in the Uefa Champions League (W8 D2), with that defeat coming against Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool in March 2019 (3-1). Bayern have beaten five different English sides in this run, including Chelsea (W3 v Arsenal, W1 v Man City, W2 v Man Utd and W1 v Tottenham Hotspur).

Chelsea will return to the Uefa Champions League in 2025-26 after a two-year absence. Since their last game in April 2023, the Blues have won 12 of their 13 matches in major European competition (excluding qualifiers – L1).

Since 2003-04 when the second group stage was removed, Bayern Munich have the highest win per centage in the group/league phase of the Uefa Champions League (73 per cent), winning 93 of their 128 matches outside of the knockout stages.

Bayern Munich averaged the most high-intensity pressures in the final third per game in the Uefa Champions League last season (122.1). Indeed, they also ranked first overall (1 709), despite only playing 14 of the 17 possible games in 2024-25.

Across the last three seasons (since 2022-23), Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich leads all players in the Uefa Champions League for both completed passes (2 525) and chances created (83). Meanwhile, last season he was the top ranked player in the competition for line-breaking passes (219).

Chelsea’s Cole Palmer has been directly involved in eight goals in his last eight club games in international competition (three goals, five assists), three of which came in his last such appearance in the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup final versus Paris SG (two goals, one assist).

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is currently sitting on 99 wins in the Uefa Champions League (150 appearances), and can become just the fourth player to reach a century of victories, after Cristiano Ronaldo (115), Thomas Müller (111) and Iker Casillas (101).

Chelsea winger Estêvão could make his Uefa Champions League debut at the Allianz Arena, aged just 18 years old and 146 days. Before the 2025-26 campaign, only three South American players have scored in the competition while aged younger than that – Endrick in 2024 (18y 58d), Roque Santa Cruz in 1999 (18y 71d) and Lionel Messi in 2005 (18y 131d).

Liverpool v Atlético de Madrid

Liverpool failed to win each of their first four Uefa Champions League games against Atlético Madrid between 2008 and 2020 (D2 L2), but won home and away against them in the last campaign when they faced (2021-22 in the group stage).

Since eliminating Liverpool from the 2019-20 Uefa Champions League with wins home and away in the last 16 (4-2 on aggregate), Atlético Madrid have only won one of their last eight matches against English sides in the competition (D2 L5), winning 1-0 at Manchester United in March 2022.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has faced Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid on two previous occasions in Europe, losing home (1-3) and away (2-3) against them in the 2023-24 Uefa Champions League group stage. Despite conceding six goals and scoring just three, Slot’s Feyenoord had a higher xG (3.6 – 2.1) and more shots (29 – 16) across the two meetings combined.

Atlético Madrid have only lost one of their last 10 opening games of a Uefa Champions League campaign (W5 D4), with that lone defeat coming away to Bayern Munich in October 2020 (4-0 to the German side).

Atlético Madrid have kept a clean sheet in 42 per cent of their Uefa Champions League matches under Diego Simeone (48/115); the highest per centage for any Spanish team to play 50+ games under a specific manager, ahead of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona (40 per cent - 20/50).

Liverpool finished top of the league phase in the 2024-25 edition, winning the most games and most points of any side (P8 W7 D0 L1 – 21 points). They won all four of their league phase matches at Anfield by an aggregate score of 10-1, including a win over then reigning champions Real Madrid (2-0).

Mohamed Salah has scored more goals (44) and made more assists (17) than any other Liverpool player in the Uefa Champions League. If he features here, he will also move into outright second for most appearances for the Reds in the competition, overtaking Steven Gerrard (73), and trailing only Jamie Carragher (80).

Antoine Griezmann has either scored or assisted 26 per cent of Atlético Madrid’s goals in the Uefa Champions League (51/197); the highest per centage by any player for a team who have scored 100+ goals in the competition’s history, ahead of Lionel Messi with Barcelona (25 per cent - 155/612).

Of centre back duos or trios with 5+ starts in the Uefa Champions League last season, Liverpool duo Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté had the highest clean sheet per centage of any partnership (71 per cent - 5/7).

Atlético Madrid’s Koke is one of only four players in Uefa Champions League history to make 100+ appearances under one manager (102 for Diego Simeone), along with Ryan Giggs (134), Paul Scholes (124) and Gary Neville (109), all for Manchester United under Alex Ferguson.

Paris SG v Atalanta

This will be just the second meeting between Paris SG and Atalanta, following a victory for the French side in the Uefa Champions League quarterfinal in 2019-20 (2-1 in a single game tie).

Only one of the last 11 meetings between Paris SG and an Italian side in major European competition have been won by the Italians (Milan 2-1 Paris SG in November 2023). Indeed, the French side’s last game in the Uefa Champions League was a 5-0 victory over Internazionale in last season’s final – the biggest ever margin of victory in a European Cup/Champions League showpiece.

Only one of the last 30 holders of the Uefa Champions League have lost their opening match in the following campaign (W19 D10), with Liverpool losing away to Napoli in the 2019-20 edition (0-2).

Paris SG boss Luis Enrique has won 64.5 per cent of his games as a manager in the Uefa Champions League (40/62), with this the highest win per centage of any individual with 50+ matches overseen.

Atalanta’s current boss, Ivan Juric, has never previously managed in the Uefa Champions League. Indeed, his only experience as a coach in major European competition (excluding qualifiers) came in last season’s Uefa Europa League, overseeing four games in charge of Roma (W1 D2 L1).

Only Barcelona (+15) had a better goal difference than Atalanta in the league phase of the 2024-25 Uefa Champions League (+14 – 20 goals scored, 6 conceded).

In the league phase of the 2024-25 Uefa Champions League, Paris SG’s Lucas Chevalier ranked fourth among all goalkeepers for goals prevented, based on the xG of shots on target faced (+3.77 – 10 goals conceded from 13.77 xG on target). Indeed, this was the best differential of any goalkeeper aged under 30 during the league phase.

Charles De Ketelaere was directly involved in nine goals in 10 Uefa Champions League appearances for Atalanta last season (4 goals, 5 assists). This was the most in a single edition by a Belgian player, overtaking Kevin De Bruyne’s total of eight in 2022-23 (2 goals, 6 assists).

Paris SG’s Achraf Hakimi created 36 chances from open play in the Uefa Champions League last season; the most by a defender in a single edition of the competition on record (since 2003-04).

Atalanta’s Davide Zappacosta led all players for both successful crosses (16) and chances created from crosses (9) – both from open play – in the Uefa Champions League last season. Indeed, his five assists were also the joint-most by a defender, along with Paris SG’s Achraf Hakimi.

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