Champions League opening round delivers landmark records for Mbappe, Yamal and Haaland

Paris Saint-Germain’s 6-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava was the biggest win of the opening round of the 2026-2027 Champions League league phase, while Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester United also began with emphatic victories.

Arsenal beat Napoli 1-0, Liverpool defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1, Real Madrid edged past Inter Milan by the same score and Manchester City won 2-0 away at Porto.

The first round produced a series of notable milestones for players and clubs, according to ESPN.

Mbappe joins Raul in Champions League scoring chart

Kylian Mbappe moved level with Raul on 71 Champions League goals, putting him fifth in the competition’s all-time scoring list. He trails Cristiano Ronaldo on 140, Lionel Messi on 129, Robert Lewandowski on 109 and Karim Benzema on 90.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior recorded nine ball recoveries against Inter Milan, his highest total in a single Champions League match. It was also the most by a Real Madrid attacking player in a home match in the competition since Gonzalo Higuain made 12 recoveries against Juventus in December 2008.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois became the 56th player to reach 100 Champions League appearances.

Kylian Mbappe’s younger brother Ethan Mbappe was sent off for the first time in his career in all competitions during Lille’s defeat by Real Betis. It came in only his third Champions League appearance. Kylian Mbappe, by contrast, has not received a red card in 99 matches in the competition.

Bayern Munich became only the second club to score more than 900 Champions League goals. Real Madrid lead the way with 1,139, followed by Bayern, while Barcelona are third on 767 and Manchester United fourth on 549.

Michael Olise has contributed to 34 goals in all competitions in 2026, scoring 17 and providing 17 assists. The only player from one of Europe’s five major leagues with a higher total is his Bayern team-mate Harry Kane, who has 39 contributions, including 34 goals and five assists.

Olise has now been involved in at least three goals in four Champions League matches. That equals Raphinha’s record for the most such games since the pair made their competition debuts in September 2024.

Kane has scored in eight consecutive Champions League matches, with 10 goals in that run. Another goal in his next appearance would see him match Bayern Munich’s longest scoring sequence in the competition, achieved twice by Robert Lewandowski between 2019 and 2021.

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the overall record, having scored in 11 consecutive Champions League matches between 2017 and 2018.

Kane also leads the competition for goal contributions over the past three seasons, starting in 2024-2025. He has recorded 31, made up of 26 goals and five assists, three more than nearest challengers Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha, who each have 28.

Haaland and Yamal set new benchmarks

Erling Haaland has scored 59 goals in 59 Champions League games, giving him the best goals-per-game rate in the competition’s history among players to have made at least 20 appearances.

His latest goal also took him level with Sergio Aguero as Manchester City’s leading Champions League scorer, with both players on 36 goals for the club.

Barcelona have scored 22 times in their first five matches of the season. It is the fourth-best scoring start in the club’s history and their strongest opening since 1950-1951.

Lamine Yamal has surpassed Lionel Messi to become Barcelona’s youngest player to reach 100 goal contributions. He achieved the mark aged 19 years and 58 days, while Messi was 22 when he reached the same figure.

Yamal has now contributed 101 goals for Barcelona, with 54 goals and 47 assists. He has scored 12 times in the Champions League, one short of Kylian Mbappe’s record of 13 for the competition’s highest-scoring teenager.

However, Yamal has already overtaken Mbappe for teenage goal contributions in the competition. He has 23, compared with 20 for the French forward.

Raphinha became the first Barcelona player in the 21st century to score in each of the club’s opening five matches in a season.

Bruno Fernandes has scored 23 goals and created 21 more in European competitions since joining Manchester United in 2020. No other midfielder has a higher combined total of goals and assists during that period.

Sabah became the first team in Champions League history to begin a match with a starting XI made up of 11 players from 11 different nationalities. It happened in the club’s first appearance in the competition.

Matheus Cunha became the fourth Brazilian to score for Manchester United in the Champions League, after Anderson, Alex Telles and Casemiro. His goal was also the 241st scored by a different Brazilian player in the history of the European Cup and Champions League. Only France, with 242 scorers, have more.

Patrick Dorgu became the youngest player to assist on his Champions League debut for Manchester United since Wayne Rooney, who did so aged 18 in September 2004.

Arsenal and Atletico records

Arsenal have scored 10 goals in their opening five matches this season, with none coming from a set-piece. That represents a change from last season, when the club relied heavily on dead-ball situations for goals.

David Raya has kept a clean sheet in 54% of his Champions League starts, doing so in 20 of 37 matches. It is the highest rate in the competition’s history among goalkeepers with at least 25 starts.

Arsenal attempted 26 shots against Napoli and recorded an expected-goals figure of 4.05. Both totals were the club’s highest in a Champions League match since the 2010-2011 season.

Martin Odegaard has scored in four of his five appearances in all competitions this season. He scored only once in 36 appearances for Arsenal last term.

Andoni Iraola secured the first victory of his career against Diego Simeone in all competitions. His previous meetings with Simeone had produced three defeats and one draw.

Marcus Llorente has scored five goals in five matches against Liverpool. He has scored the same number in 54 matches against all his other Champions League opponents combined.

Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in their last 11 Champions League matches. They are now two games away from equalling the club record, a run of 13 matches without defeat between October 2012 and November 2013.

Ferran Torres became the ninth Spanish player to score a Champions League hat-trick. He is also the first Spanish player to score at least three goals in a match in the competition for a club outside Spain since Lucas Perez did so for Arsenal against Basel in December 2016.

Torres has scored 21 Champions League goals, moving beyond Luis Enrique on 19, Fernando Torres on 20 and Cesc Fabregas on 20. He is now fifth among Spanish scorers in the European Cup and Champions League, with Raul leading on 71.

Ousmane Dembele reached 30 Champions League goals, overtaking David Trezeguet to become the fifth-highest French scorer in the competition. Karim Benzema leads French players with 90, followed by Kylian Mbappe on 71, Thierry Henry on 50 and Antoine Griezmann on 44.

Milestones for Italian and Brazilian players

Bryan Cristante scored his first Champions League goal in his 14th appearance in the competition for Roma, Benfica and Milan.

His goal was also Roma’s first in the Champions League since Daniele De Rossi scored against Porto in the second leg of the last 16 in 2018-2019. The gap between the two goals was 2,745 days.

Como became only the second Italian club to score four or more goals on their European Cup or Champions League debut. Sampdoria were the first, beating Rosenborg 5-0 in September 1991.

Como are also the 12th Italian club to score in the Champions League, out of the 16 Italian teams to have played in the competition.

Nico Paz, aged 22 years and two days, became the youngest Argentine player to create at least two goals in a Champions League match since Lionel Messi did so against Basel in October 2008, when he was 21 years and 120 days old.

PSV forward Ricardo Pepi has contributed to nine Champions League goals, scoring six and assisting three. Among players with at least 250 minutes in the competition, he has the best rate of a goal or assist every 49 minutes.

Ermedin Demirovic scored the fifth-fastest hat-trick in Champions League history, finding the net three times in 31 minutes and 21 seconds.

He became only the second player from Bosnia and Herzegovina to score a Champions League hat-trick, after Edin Dzeko, who scored three against Viktoria Plzen in 2018. Demirovic is also the first player to score a Champions League hat-trick for Stuttgart.

Zion Suzuki became the first Japanese goalkeeper to play in the Champions League. Earlier in the current season, he had also become the first Japanese goalkeeper to appear in the Premier League.

John McGinn has scored 12 goals for Aston Villa in European competitions. That moved him beyond Ollie Watkins and made him the club’s leading scorer in major European competitions.