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Ronaldo, Sterling out to continue knockout form – Champions League in Opta numbers

Cristiano Ronaldo and Raheem Sterling have impressive knockout stage records to continue in the Champions League on Wednesday.

By Ryan Benson
Cristian Ronaldo and Raheem Sterling out to continue knockout form

Madrid, February 26: Two titans collide in the Champions League on Wednesday when Real Madrid host Manchester City, while Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to continue his remarkable goal-scoring record in the knockout phase.

Ronaldo has come a long way since the days critics suggested he did not perform in the biggest matches, as he now boasts an astonishing record in the latter stages of Europe's elite competition.

He will fancy his chances of being decisive yet again in this tie, with Juve firm favourites against Lyon.

Nevertheless, most eyes will be on the Santiago Bernabeu, as Pep Guardiola takes City to the setting of some of his most chaotic matches as a coach, having previously been in charge of Barcelona.

Ahead of those two matches, we take a look at the key data below.

Real Madrid v Manchester City

4 - Madrid have prevailed in their previous four Champions League knockout ties against English opposition: 5-0 on aggregate v Tottenham (2010-11 quarter-finals), 3-2 v Manchester United (2012-13 last 16), 1-0 v Manchester City (2015-16 semi-finals), 3-1 v Liverpool (2017-18 final).

23 - Los Blancos are into the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 23rd consecutive season, the longest run in the history of the tournament and a streak that began in 1997-98.

22 - Madrid have scored in each of their previous 22 home games in the knockout stages of the Champions League; the last team to stop them from scoring were Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in the 2010-11 semi-finals (0-2). However, they have failed to win their past three knockout matches at the Santiago Bernabeu (D1 L2); Madrid have never gone four matches in a row without a victory.

3 - City boss Guardiola is facing Madrid in a Champions League knockout tie for the third time, with a third different club – he won 3-1 on aggregate with Barcelona in the 2010-11 semi-finals and he lost 5-0 on aggregate with Bayern in the 2013-14 semi-finals.

10 - Sterling has scored 10 goals in his previous 13 Champions League appearances, one more goal than in the 34 matches in this competition (nine) prior to that run. Only Lionel Messi (six) and Ronaldo (five) scored more times than Sterling in last season's knockout stages (four).

Lyon v Juventus

11 - Lyon have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League more times than any other French club (11). However, it has been 10 years since they progressed past the round of 16 (2009-10). They have scored only three goals in their previous nine knockout games in this competition (W1 D2 L6).

6 - Juve are in the Champions League knockout stages for the sixth straight season, their longest ever run. In the past five campaigns, they have made it past the last 16 on four occasions, only failing to do so in 2015-16 when they were eliminated by Bayern Munich (4-6 on aggregate).

2 - Lyon won two of their six group games (D2 L2), the lowest tally alongside Atalanta among the remaining 16 teams.

45 - Memphis Depay (six goals, four assists) has been directly involved in 45 per cent of Lyon's Champions League goals since the start of last season (10/22), however they will be without the Dutch forward for this match due to injury.

65 - Among the seven players with 50+ goals in the Champions League, Juve striker Ronaldo is the only one to have scored more goals in the knockout stages (65) than in the group phase (63). He has also registered more assists in the competition against Lyon (four) than any other side.

Story first published: Wednesday, February 26, 2020, 13:55 [IST]
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