[OC] Vinicius Jr (2022-24) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2012-15) are the only players in the modern UCL to score or assist in every knockout tie across 3+ sequential semifinals runs

by nunixnunix04

7 comments

  1. I don’t have a full database of every UCL knockout game, so I had to manually check this information. Given the restrictions of this stat, I am pretty confident these are the only two that meet it. The way I checked was by looking at a list of [UCL Semi-finalists since 2004 (when Round of 16 was introduced)](https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=6994680857244983&vanity=ChampionsLeague&slug=a.216747755038361), and then looking at clubs that were present 3 years in a row. Then I used FBRef and TransferMarkt to try to find players that met the criteria. All I need is one tie in that 3-year period where X player didn’t score or assist to know that X player doesn’t meet the criteria. Since finals are a single game, that was an easy way to invalidate a lot of potential candidates, as well as when the player’s club scored 0 goals across an entire tie. I manually checked a few other potential candidates I had in mind who switched clubs during their 3-year SF streak, but none that I checked met the criteria (e.g. Eto’o).

    Cristiano did not achieve this during the UCL threepeat as he did not score or assist in the semis and finals of 2016 and 2018. Messi could’ve achieved this across all of 2009-12 but did not score or assist in the 2010 semi-finals vs Inter Milan.

    Some extra facts:

    * In 2021, Vinicius scored twice vs Liverpool (QFs) but did not register a G/A vs Chelsea (SFs) or Atalanta (Ro16; however, he was fouled for a penalty, which TransferMarkt counts as an assist). He also got an assist in the 1 game he played vs Man City in 2020 Ro16, and another assist vs Ajax (Ro16) in 2019.
    * In other words, if you count penalty assists, the only UCL tie Vini has ever failed to score/assist was vs Chelsea in 2021 (where he notably played RWB in the second leg).
    * (Not shown) Across an entire 12-year-long span from 2010 to 2021, Ronaldo scored or assisted in 28 of the 33 (85%) UCL ties he played in (exceptions: 2011,16,18 SFs; 2016,18 finals).
    * (Not shown) If you start the previous stat from 2007 (to 2021, 15 years), he scored or assisted in 37 of 44 UCL ties (84%; new exceptions: 2008 SFs and 2009 final vs Barcelona). He reached the SFs in every single year in this span except for 2010, and 2019 onwards. Ronaldo had a G/A in every Ro16 and QF tie he played in that span.
    * That means of the 7 UCL knockout ties that Ronaldo did not score or assist in across 2007-2021, 3 of them were vs Barcelona (2008 SFs, 2009 finals, 2011 SFs).
    * That’s right, Ronaldo had 4 goals + 2 assists vs Schalke in 2013, and then 3 more goals and 1 more assist against them again in 2014. The 6 G/A across a tie in 2013 is not a record though, as Messi had 7 vs Leverkusen in 2012 and Lewandowski had 7 vs Chelsea in 2020 (and maybe others have 7+ as well, I did not check).
    * Across 2022-24 knockout games, Vini scored 9 goals and assisted 10 in 20 games. Across 2012-15, Ronaldo scored 26 goals and assisted 6 in 24 games (Ronaldo did not play second leg of 2014 SFs).
    * Across 2022-24 knockout games, Vini averaged 0.93 goals or assists per 90 minutes. Across 2012-15, Ronaldo averaged 1.28 goals or assists per 90 minutes.
    * Across 2022-24 knockout games, Vini scored or assisted 53% of Real Madrid’s goals. Across 2012-15, Ronaldo scored or assisted 55% of Real Madrid’s goal.
    * (Not shown) Between 2013 and 2018, Messi failed to score or assist in a tie 5 times (out of 15 ties). Every single time during those ties, Barcelona were knocked out. During this period, the one year where Messi had a G/A in every tie in the UCL was 2015, when they won.
    * (Not shown) Between 2009 and 2019, Messi only failed to score or assist in a tie 6 times (out of 32 ties; exceptions: 2014,16-18 QFs; 2010,13 SFs)

  3. I like how the graphic looks, especially the overlapping team shields.

  4. Great graphic – think swapping the players order would be better though, the years would ascend in order

  7. Did Schalke’s president fuck Ronaldo’s gf or something

Leave a Reply