By the numbers: FC Barcelona 4-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Among the key facts, all six newcomers (Cillessen, Umtiti, Digne, André Gomes, Denis Suárez and Paco Alcácer) started a game together for the very first time
FC Barcelona were in impressive form on Tuesday night as they rounded off Champions League Group C with a 4-0 defeat of Borussia Mönchengladbach. We’ve looked at the facts. We’ve looked at the stats. And here’s a round-up of some of the ones that most stood out for us:
- All six of the players signed by FC Barcelona last summer started a game together for the very first time. Cillessen, Umtiti, Digne, André Gomes, Denis Suárez and Paco Alcácer. They were all on for the full 90 minutes too. Vidal and Denis were making their Champions League debuts for their new club.
- Arda Turan scored his first hat-trick in a Barça shirt, and the Turk only took 17 minutes to do it. He also laid up Leo Messi’s goal and was a fitting choice for the man of the match award. Arda became the sixth Barça player to net three in a UCL era match, following on from Messi (7), Rivaldo, Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Neymar.
- Samuel Umtiti was outstanding in defence, winning a massive 15 balls to lead the team in that category.
- His goal against Borussia means that Messi has now scored more goals against German clubs than from any other foreign country. He had previously netted against Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart and Werder Bremen.
- Javier Mascherano made his 300th appearance for Barça last night. It’s only taken him six and a half seasons to surpass Cocu and become the foreigner with the third highest number of games for the club, topped only by Dani Alves (391) and Leo Messi (549). 'Masche' also topped the Barça ranking for completed passes last night with 127
- Andrés Iniesta equalled Carles Puyol’s tally of 120 Champions League games and is 12th overall in the competition’s history. Porto and former Real Madrid goalie Iker Casillas is top with 165, followed by Barça’s own Xavi Hernández with 157.
- Leo Messi is now tied fourth with Migueli in the list of all-time appearances for FC Barcelona. The Argentinian has played 549 games, and only Puyol (593), Iniesta (604) and Xavi (767) have appeared in more.
- Marc Cardona, the top Barça B goalscorer, made his Champions League debut a week after his first ever official start in the Copa del Rey game at Hercules. He came on for hat-trick hero Arda Turan after 74 minutes.