Fact Check: Best Stats from this weekend's (18-19 Feb) European Footballing Action

A dramatic weekend of European Football saw twists in the Premier League and Bundesliga title races, with interesting stats pouring in from across the big five European leagues.

In England, Arsenal produced a last-gasp winner to reaffirm their lead over reigning champions Manchester City, who surprisingly dropped points away to Nottingham Forest. Elsewhere, Liverpool registered a statement win over Newcastle United, thereby strengthening their bid for a top-four finish come May.

Manchester United and Spurs registered routine victories, whereas Chelsea slumped to yet another defeat which kept them in 10th place.

In Spain, both Barcelona and Real Madrid registered comfortable victories, whereas Atletico Madrid edged out Athletic Club by a narrow margin. Real Sociedad dropped points in the race for the top-four places, but they still sit comfortably in third place.

In Italy, Napoli remain 15 points clear at the top of the table, whereas Atalanta moved out of the top-four following their loss against Lecce. Both Milan clubs are now in the top-four places in what promises to be a close battle for the Champions League spots.

In Germany, Bayern's 3-2 loss against Monchengladbach and Union Berlin's draw against Schalke ensured there are three clubs at the top of the Bundesliga on 43 points, with Borussia Dortmund entering the title race in fine fashion.

In France, Lionel Messi pulled off a dramatic win for the Ligue 1 leaders following a run of three successive defeats. With Marseille, Lens and Monaco all winning, PSG's thrilling win could turn out to be even more crucial at the end of the season.

So, without any further ado, let's look at the best stats from this weekend's European Footballing action:

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Best Stats from this weekend's European Footballing Action (League Wise)

Premier League

• Chelsea's run of one win in their last ten games is their worst such run since 1995. Worrying stats for the Blues.
• Arsenal have won 14 away games against Aston Villa, their joint-most away victories against a Premier League side (14 against West Ham).
• Manchester City failed to beat a newly promoted side in the PL for the first time since April 2021.
• Liverpool are unbeaten in their last six visits to St. James' park, their longest such run against Newcastle.
• Manchester United have lost just thrice in their last 22 PL games (W15, D5). Moreover, the Red Devils have won more points in their last 22 games than any other side in their last 22 games in the League.
• Tottenham have won 26 games against West Ham, only less than Everton (29) and Manchester City (28) in the history of the club.
• Chelsea have lost three of their last six Premier League home games. Interestingly, they lost only thrice in their last 25 PL games before the six-game run.

LaLiga

• Barcelona have allowed only seven goals in 22 LaLiga games this season. This is the fewest number of goals allowed through 22 games in LaLiga's history. Incredible stats indeed!
• Robert Lewandowski has scored 24 goals this season, tying with Marcus Rashford for the third most goals scored across Europe's top-five leagues. Only Erling Haaland (32) and Kylian Mbappe (27) have scored more goals than the Polish Striker.
• Diego Simeone equalled the record for most matches (424) in charge of a single La Liga club set by Miguel Munoz of Real Madrid (1959-1974).
• Fede Valverde became the first Real Madrid midfielder since Isco (2017-18) to score seven La Liga goals in a season.
• Barcelona's tally of 59 points is the joint second-best ever in La Liga's history after 22 games, only behind Barcelona's 61 points accumulated in the 2010-11 season. The stats are surely favorable for Xavi's Barca.

Serie A

• Napoli have scored 56 goals in 23 Serie A games this season, overtaking their previous best record at this stage of a single campaign (55 goals in 2016-17).
• After losing three successive Serie A games, Milan have kept two consecutive clean sheets for the first time since August 2022.
• Only Barcelona and Manchester United have kept more clean sheets (18 each) than Juventus' 16 across Europe's top-five leagues in the 2022-23 season.
• In 2023, Roma, along with Juventus and Napoli, are the team with the most clean sheets in Serie A (five).

Bundesliga

• Bayern's loss against Monchengladbach was their first in 21 games. The Bavarians were unbeaten in their last 20 matches (16W, 4D).
• Marco Reus scored Borussia Dortmund's first goal from a direct freekick this season. Only four teams have multiple direct freekick goals in Bundesliga this season, as per the stats (Leipzig, Leverkusen, Mainz, Frankfurt).
• Monchengladbach's 28 wins against Bayern is the most any club has ever achieved against the record Bundesliga champions.
• Bayern vs Monchengladbach faced each for the 110th time in Bundesliga at the weekend. Only Bayern vs Werder Bremen has been a more frequent clash (111) in the Bundesliga.

Ligue 1

• With his freekick against Lille, Lionel Messi has scored 699 goals in his club career. Incredible stats from the Argentine.
• PSG-LOSC has become the most prolific Ligue 1 double-header of the 21st century with 15 goals (7-1 for Paris in the first leg and 4-3 for Parisians in the second).
• Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe scored in the same Ligue 1 game for only the fourth time.

Stats courtesy of ESPN and WhoScored