Champions League Semi-final: Unique stats and Records

The Champions League witnessed two of the best semi-final ties in recent years and Europe's premier club competition is all set to host a second English final in the past three years.

Manchester City will take on Chelsea in Istanbul and we can already hear fireworks. Both the teams will be desperate for a triumph as the European glory would be the final puzzle of Manchester City's quest for their first-ever treble, while Chelsea would not want to slip the opportunity to grab the UCL for the first time since 2012.

Over four games played in the semi-final tie, we saw a lot of records that were broken. We saw Pep Guardiola vs Mauricio Pochettino, there was Thomas Tuchel vs Zinedine Zidane, and all we can say is it was worth it.

Let's have a look at some unique stats and facts of the Champions League semi-finals 

Beginning from the first leg of the semi-final round, Chelsea visited Alfredo Di Stefano stadium to play Real Madrid. Let's see the records changed sides that day.

8

Chelsea played their eighth semi-final tie in their Champions League history, the most by any other Premier League club.

22

Christian Pulisic became Chelsea's youngest goalscorer (22 years) in a Champions League semi-final, and he has also become the first American player to find the net in a Champions League semi-final.

5

Thomas Tuchel became the first and only manager till now to stay undefeated against Real Madrid after five games.

14

It was Real Madrid's 14th Champions League semi-final appearance, two more at least than all the other sides to have participated in the competition.

36

Thiago Silva became the oldest player (36 years) to play in a Champions League semi-final since Ryan Giggs (37 years) featured for Manchester United in 2011.

Now we move on to the first leg between Manchester City and PSG when the Cityzens made a visit to Paris to win 2-1.

6

Manchester City became the first Premier League club to win six successive UEFA Champions League or (European Cup) matches in a single season since Leeds United in 1969-70 season.

3

The Brazilian and PSG defender Marquinhos only became the third player in Champions League history to appear on the scoresheet in the quarter-final and semi-final in seasons one after another. 

Only Cristiano Ronaldo has done it thrice in 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and the player behind him is Antoine Griezmann, who scored in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

2

Idrissa Gana Gueye is the first player in 8 years to have seen a red card twice in a single Champions League campaign. (1st is Alvaro Arbeloa in 2012-13).

Now we move on to the second legs. The first second leg meeting was between PSG and Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Despite a strong start by PSG, City's instant response took the game away from the grasp of the Parisiens.

11

Pep Guardiola's Man City are the first PL team to win 11 games in a single UCL campaign, breaking Man United's record

9

Manchester City also become the ninth Premier League club to feature in the Champions League Final, the next best is three, from Serie A, La Liga, and Bundesliga. 

2021

For the first time since the 2009-10 season, a team has seen a red card in both the legs of a Champions League semi-final. Before 2009, the incident was recorded in the 2003-04 season.

36

Fernandinho became the joint-oldest player (36 years) to win a Champions League game on his birthday since Bayer Leverkusen's Ulf Kirsten in 2001.

Finally, to the latest Champions League semi-final that was played yesterday, Real Madrid were put to dust as Chelsea won 2-0.

8

Edouard Mendy, who was signed by the Blues this season has kept eight clean sheets in 11 Champions League games, the most by a keeper for a Premier League club in the history of the UCL.

2

Thomas Tuchel becomes the first manager to feature in back-to-back Champions League finals with different teams. (PSG and Chelsea).

22

Mason Mount becomes the second-youngest English player to score in the Champions League semi-final. 

5

If Chelsea win the Champions League, N'Golo Kante will have won every major trophy possible (FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, World Cup), all under different managers.

Stay Tuned for more intriguing facts and updates.