We now know who the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League quarterfinalists are: Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, and Barcelona.
By The Numbers takes a look back at the numbers that defined the second legs of the UCL round-of-16 that saw these teams advance:
45
Kylian Mbappe has become just the 2nd player in UCL history to score 45+ goals in the competition, while being 25 years or younger. The first player? One Lionel Messi (who had 59).
18
Kylian Mbappe now has 18 career knockout stage goals, that’s tied for the 6th-most in UCL history with Raúl and Andriy Shevchenko. (Cristiano Ronaldo leads with 67)
1
Barcelona is the first club in Champions League knockout stage history to start multiple players under age 18 in the same match (Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi). They have now started 3 different players under 18 in a UCL KO stage match (also Bojan Krkic in 2008), overtaking Bayern Munich for the most players under-18 starters in UCL KO stage matches (Jamal Musiala, David Alaba).
16-year-old Lamine Yamal and 17-year-old Pau Cubarsí went through the ranks at La Masia together.
They made history for Barca as they were the first side in Champions League history to start two players ages 17 or under in a knockout round match.
The gamble paid off �� pic.twitter.com/Lu25YBNeoE
– ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 12, 2024
1
This is the first time Jadon Sancho has scored in consecutive club appearances since Nov. 2021 with Manchester United.
Another first in a few years: Sancho hadn’t scored a goal from outside the penalty area since Nov. 24, 2020. That was during his first stint at Dortmund.
1
Arsenal overturned a first-leg deficit to advance in the UCL knockout (KO) stage for the first time since the 2009-10 Round of 16 vs … Porto. The win snaps a streak of 7 straight Round of 16 eliminations in the UCL. Arsenal vs Porto was also the first UCL KO match to go to penalties after the 2016 final!
3
This is the 3rd time in the last 4 seasons that no Italian clubs reach the Quarterfinals – last season, of course, the two Milan clubs had made it to the semifinals!
20
Real Madrid have advanced to the quarterfinals for the 20th time in the UCL era, only Bayern Munich (22) has more QF apps
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have the most appearances in the quarter-finals in the history of the Champions League ��
Champions League heritage �� pic.twitter.com/aSSnH9jcf1
– ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 13, 2024
20-11
RB Leipzig out-shot Real Madrid 20 to 11, that’s the largest shot differential (+9) by a visiting team vs Real Madrid in the UCL since Chelsea in April 2022 (+18) — that Chelsea visit was also the last time Real Madrid lost a home match in the competition.
14
Carlo Ancelotti has now advanced to his 14th UCL quarterfinal. That’s tied for most all-time with Pep Guardiola.
3
Atletico Madrid are the first team to win 3 shootouts in the UCL era (– since 1992-93). They are also the first to compete in 4 UCL shootouts.
6
Antoine Griezmann now has 6 UCL goals this season, currently tied with Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé for the most by any player this season.
23-year-old Pepe defending for Porto against Arsenal and Thierry Henry in the Champions League in 2006 vs. 41-year-old Pepe defending for Porto against Arsenal and Leandro Trossard in the Champions League in 2024 ��
THIS IS INCREDIBLE �� pic.twitter.com/Y8mg2Clk7B
– ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 13, 2024
8
Marco Reus’ late goal against PSV was his 8th career UCL goal in the KO stages. Among German-born players, only Thomas Müller (27) and Mario Gomez (9) have more. Michael Ballack also had 8. Reus has also tied Robert Lewandowski for most KO goals by a Dortmund player.
26
Harry Kane now has 26 career goals in UCL, 1 shy of tying Raheem Sterling (27) for the 2nd most by an Englishman in UCL history. (Wayne Rooney leads with 30)
35+
Robert Lewandowski joins Karim Benzema as the only players in UCL history to score in both legs of a knockout stage tie after turning 35 years old (Benzema did so vs Liverpool in the 2022-23 Round of 16).
(Stats courtesy: ESPN Stats and Information Group)