Champions League: PSG beat Manchester City; Real Madrid stunned
Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 season saw Paris Saint-German beat last season's finalists Manchester City at the Parc des Princess. Lionel Messi scored his maiden goals for PSG as the French side won 2-0. Meanwhile, 13-time UCL winners Real Madrid suffered a shock defeat against Sheriff, a Moldovan based club. Atletico Madrid beat AC Milan and Liverpool won big. Here's more.
PSG overcome Man City 2-0 at home
Messi, who made his fourth appearance for PSG since leaving Barcelona, ran from the halfway line before and played a superb one-two with Kylian Mbappe to score from 20 yards out in the 74th minute. Meanwhile, Idrissa Gueye had earlier given PSG an early lead with an excellent drive into the top corner. Man City spurned several opportunities to fall short against City.
Messi's prolific run against Man City
As per Opta, Messi has scored more UCL goals against Man City (7) than any other player. Also, his seven goals against sides managed by Pep Guardiola (two vs Bayern Munich, five against Man City with him as manager) are also the most of any player. Messi has become the second player in Champions League history to score in 17 successive seasons.
PSG vs Man City: Here are the other stunning records
City have suffered their first UCL group stage defeat since September 2018, when they lost 2-1 to Lyon. Pep Guardiola's side had been unbeaten in 18 such games coming into the match against PSG. Messi has scored 27 goals in 35 appearances against English teams in the UCL. This is 15 more than any other player in the competition.
Sheriff stun Real Madrid 2-1
Sheriff Tiraspol stunned Real at the Santiago Bernabeu. Sebastien Thill scored the winning goal for Sheriff with a stunning final-minute strike, sparking scenes of wild celebration from the Moldovan champions. Earlier, Jasurbek Yakhshiboev's first-half header had given the visitors a crucial lead before Karim Benzema equalized with a penalty. Real failed to win despite clocking 31 shots, with 11 being on target.
Sheriff register these records in the Champions League
As per Opta, Sheriff have become the fourth team to win in their maiden game at Real Madrid's home in European Cup/ChampionsLeague ever after Juventus in 1962, Arsenal in 2006, and Liverpool in 2009. Debutants Sheriff also became the first team since Leicester City in 2016-17 to win their first two games in the UCL after beating Shakhtar (2-0) and Real Madrid (2-1).
Liverpool smash these records after beating Porto 5-1
Liverpool hammered FC Porto 5-1 and are unbeaten in their nine meetings across competitions against the Portuguese side (W6 D3). As per Opta, only against Scunthorpe United and Walsall have they played more often without ever losing (11 each). Liverpool have scored 3+ goals in six consecutive matches for only the third time in history, after doing so in May 2009 and October 1892.
Porto vs Liverpool: Some stunning individual records
James Milner has gone level with Steven Gerrard in terms of most UCL assists for Liverpool (12). Sadio Mane has scored five goals against Porto in the UCL, the most by a Liverpool player against a single opponent in the competition. Salah has raced to 31 UCL goals, equaling Arjen Robben. Notably, he is only the third African player to score 30-plus UCL goals.