The Champions League group stage wrapped up last night with the 6th and final group match-day. Now that the first part of the tournament is over and the next part (the knockout rounds) is a few months away, it is a good time to look back and review the statistics of the group stage. Below is an overall table representing the current Champions League tournament in ‘league’ format with blue coloured teams signifying group winners and orange coloured teams signifying group runners up.
Most Wins:
- Real Madrid – 6 wins: the reigning European champions racked up a perfect 100% score in the group stage with 6 wins out of 6.
- Bayern Munich – 5 wins: continuing their form from the Bundesliga, Bayern didn’t drop any beats with 5 wins in the group stage.
- Chelsea – 5 wins: the current Premier League leaders found it easy to rack up 5 wins from an admittedly simple group.
Most Clean Sheets:
- Monaco – 5 clean sheets: not surprising seeing as how Monaco tied the record for the least amount of goals scored to win a group with only 4 goals scored in the entire group stage. A strong defence is expected from a team such as this.
- Atletico Madrid – 5 clean sheets: after their initial 3-2 loss in Greece, Atletico won the next 5 matches without conceding a goal.
- Real Madrid – 4 clean sheets: the surprise name perhaps on the list as the capital club is known for its attacking force however, their defence played a big part in securing 6 wins with 4 clean sheets kept.
- Bayern Munich – 4 clean sheets: the team with the least league goals conceded in the top 5 leagues, Bayern Munich were expected to keep that defensive discipline in the UCL and they did not disappoint.
Most Goals Scored:
- Chelsea – 17 goals: just 3 goals short of tying the all-time UCL group stage record, Chelsea produced enough attacking prowess to make even the most solid defensive forces wary of facing them.
- Real Madrid – 16 goals: the strongest attack in Europe was expected to pull in a high number of goals and Ancelotti’s men obliged with 16 goals in 6 wins in the group stage.
- Bayern Munich – 16 goals: Guardiola’s Bayern maintained their attacking force with 16 goals thanks largely to their 7-1 demolishing of Roma.
- Porto – 16 goals: perhaps unexpected, Porto managed the same number of goals as heavyweights such as Bayern and Real Madrid and more than any of the other teams, an impressive feat helped marginally by their relatively weak group.
Least Goals Conceded:
- Monaco – 1 goal conceded: with only 4 goals scored yet still winning their group, you know that Monaco must have had a great defensive record to achieve that feat. And that is evident here with just 1 goal conceded in 6 games.
- Real Madrid – 2 goals conceded: as mentioned earlier, Real Madrid are more known for their attack yet their defence really did shine through with 4 clean sheets in a row in their last 4 group stage matches.
- Chelsea – 3 goals conceded: typical of any Jose Mourinho team, Chelsea were well disciplined in defence and conceded just 3 goals in the group stage.
- Atletico Madrid – 3 goals conceded: just like Jose Mourinho, Diego Simeone’s Atletico is know to keep a tight defence no matter who they play.
Best goal difference:
- Real Madrid and Chelsea – (+14): when you poses a great defence and attack, that translates into an impressive goal difference.
- Porto and Bayern Munich – (+12): even though both teams conceded 4 goals, their great offensive haul of 16 goals helped them in gaining an imposing goal difference.
Undefeated teams:
- Real Madrid: with 6 wins, no draws, and no losses, the reigning champions clearly had the most impressive group stage performance overall.
- Chelsea: with their supremely solid form this season, it is not a surprise to see Mourinho’s men as one of the 3 undefeated sides remaining in the Champions League.
- Porto: again the surprise entrant, Porto had an excellent group stage even by the high standards of the UCL. With 5 wins, no losses, and 16 goals scored; it is not inconceivable to think of Porto as a potential ‘dark horse’.
Now after looking at the best or top stats, it’s time to look at the ‘worst‘ ones:
- Least wins: Maribor, APOEL, and Galatasaray [0 wins].
- Least goals scored: APOEL [1 goal].
- Most goals conceded: BATE Borisov [24 goals].
- Most losses: Malmo, BATE, Galatasaray, APOEL [5 losses].
- Worst goal difference: BATE Borisov [-22].
- Least points earned: APOEL and Galatasaray [1 point].
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