From struggling coaches to stuttering teams via landmark goals, Thomas Woods looks at some vital statistics from the sport in Europe over the past few days.
70
Pep Guardiola said Bayern Munich must improve ahead of their Uefa Champions League clash at Manchester City after stuttering to a 1-0 win over Wolfsburg. Despite 70 per cent possession, Bayern needed over an hour to break down Wolfsburg to stay second in the Bundesliga. “We won, but we must improve a lot of things,” Guardiola said.
1989
David Moyes, the Manchester United coach, admits his team’s lack of cutting edge is giving him grounds for concern following three defeats in Moyes’s first six league games in charge. This is United’s worst start since 1989. They have not scored from open play in the league since their 4-1 win at Swansea City in Week 1.
14 Gareth Bale's long-awaited Real Madrid home debut ended in disappointment as Atletico Madrid beat their neighbours 1-0 to register their first league victory over Real in 14 years on Saturday night. Bale started on the bench and was not able to impact the game greatly when he came on at half time, as Atletico maintained their 100 per cent start to the campaign. They have 21 points from seven games and are second on goal difference behind Barcelona.
208 Alexander Kerzhakov, the Zenit St Petersburg striker, became Russian football's leading scorer when his 208th career goal helped his side to a 4-2 win over Spartak Moscow. Kerzhakov fired home from the edge of the box and the ball slipped between the legs of goalkeeper Sergei Pesiakov. "It's a dream to become the top scorer in history," Kerzhakov said.
2 AZ Alkmaar fired coach Gertjan Verbeek on Sunday in a surprise move that came a day after they beat Dutch league leaders PSV Eindhoven to move to within two points of the top of the table, blaming "a lack of chemistry between the squad and the coach". For the last three seasons, Verbeek, 51, has guided AZ into European competition and won the Dutch Cup last season.