Another calendar year of football is coming to an end, and it has been nothing short of exciting. From FC Barcelona’s world domination to the disastrous downfall of Chelsea, the year has been far more eventful than the years past. The action will only get better as we are on the brink of 2016 and the beautiful game is sure to keep us on the edge of our seats as the current season enters it’s second half.
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The year has also witnessed numerous records broken and new ones made, with Barcelona winning a record 3rd Club World Cup final, Arsenal’s 12th FA Cup triumph that made them the most successful side in the competition and Jamie Vardy’s record breaking consecutive scoring spree.
2016 also promises to be a cracking year and it will definitely live up to the high standards set in the years that have passed before.
Here are 10 interesting football stats of the calendar year:
- Messi, Suarez and Neymar (MSN) have taken Europe by storm this season and have helped Barcelona to be front-runners to win the league title. The trio have been deadly infront of goal having scored more goals than Bayern Munich and Benzema, Bale and Ronaldo (BBC) in 2015.
- Barcelona also surpassed Real Madrid’s record of highest goals scored by a team in a calendar year (178) in their recent 4-0 win against Real Betis. The match also marked Messi’s 500th appearance for Barcelona and the Argentine capped the occasion with a goal to his name.
- Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty miss against Real Sociedad was his first ever missed penalty in the league.
- Celta Vigo’s Nolito has created the most goal-scoring chances than any other La Liga player in 2015. He made seven chances more than Barcelona winger Neymar who is second at 94.
- Lionel Messi wins a title every 26 hours playing for Barcelona. INCREDIBLE!
- Watford’s Odion Ighalo has scored more league goals in 2015 than any other player in England’s top four tiers. Ighalo joined the Hornets in the summer and has 14 goals in 19 appearances so far this season.
- Liverpool have been denied by the woodwork in the Premier league more times than any other side since 2011/12. The Reds have been unlucky 98 times during that period.
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the leading goal-scorer across Europe’s top 5 leagues in 2015. The Portuguese international has netted 38 times in the league this calendar year.
- Manchester United have lost just one of 16 games with Morgan Schneiderlin starting and five of 11 without him in all competitions this season.
- The last time United failed to win in 7 games:
- The Premier League didn’t exist
- AC Milan were European champions
- David de Gea wasn’t even born!
