Stat, Viz, Quiz 142: Kylian Mbappé vs Harry Kane as Champions League Quarter-Finals Loom

On Tuesday, we will see two of the world’s elite strikers do battle, both looking to take their club into the final four as Kylian Mbappé’s Real Madrid take on Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich. In this week’s SVQ, we compare the two. Spoiler alert: They’re both pretty good.

The FA Cup quarter-finals took place at the weekend, with Manchester City, Chelsea, Leeds United and, surprisingly, Southampton getting through to the semis. Don’t worry Arsenal fans, we won’t be looking at the Saints’ shock win, but rather a player who took part in Man City’s 4-0 demolition of Liverpool, and no, not hat-trick hero Erling Haaland.

This week’s Ask Opta question looks across the pond to a familiar face impressing in Major League Soccer, while our quiz tests your Champions League knowledge.

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There are some huge games on the horizon in the Champions League quarter-finals, with arguably none bigger than Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich.

An irresistible force against an immovable object?

Well, not quite. Madrid did lose at Mallorca on Saturday after all, but still, a potentially fun time to be had watching two behemoths battle.

There will be oodles of stars smattered about across the two legs, but where things could be decided might just be which phenomenal striker will have the most influence.

Kylian Mbappé missed Real Madrid’s last-16 wins over Manchester City with injury, but is back for this one. His 39 goals in 39 games in all competitions this season is at least 21 more than any other Madrid player.

The Frenchman has been in stunning form in the Champions League this season, averaging a goal every 56 minutes (13 goals in nine games). Only Erling Haaland (2019-20) has ever had a better minutes per-goal-ratio (55) having scored at least 10 times in a single edition.

The only player from Europe’s top five leagues to have more goals than Mbappé in all competitions this season is Harry Kane. His 51 goals in 45 games have him well ahead of anyone else.

To show how much the two players stand out, Haaland (36 goals in 48 games) is the only other player from Europe’s top five leagues to have also scored more than 25 goals.

Kane has often thrived in this competition. He is the only English player ever to score 10+ goals in consecutive European Cup/Champions League campaigns (11 in 2024-25, 10 in 2025-26), while he has scored more goals in the competition than any other player since joining Bayern Munich in 2023 (29 in 34 games).

Who will come out on top? We’ll find out over the next two weeks, but all this hype has probably ensured it’ll be goalless this week and decided by an own goal in the second leg.

With superstars like Haaland, Rodri and Phil Foden, it sometimes feels like Bernardo Silva can be a bit overlooked, but the Portuguese midfielder has been a vital part of Manchester City’s success in recent years.

After almost nine years in England, City look set to say goodbye to their second significant Silva of the Premier League era this summer, with the 31-year-old’s contract up at the end of the season. Reports suggest the player will depart, and he will be a miss for City.

Saturday’s emphatic FA Cup win over Liverpool was another example of what Silva still brings, helping the hosts to overwhelm their visitors in the middle of the park. He created two chances, the joint-most of any player in the match, and had 93 touches, the most of any player. He also completed 74 of 80 passes (92.5%).

It was a typical showing from him, and an appropriate way to perform in his 450th appearance for City in all competitions. In his time at the club, Silva has 76 goals and 75 assists.

In his time at Man City, Bernardo has played in multiple positions, but as you can see from his position map below across all competitions in the last nine seasons, he has predominantly played in centre midfield (39%), with his second-most common position being on the right wing (29%).

He has been such a consistent part of City’s setup over the last decade because of that versatility, and Pep Guardiola has often relied on him in the biggest games. He has made the most appearances in the UEFA Champions League for the club of any player, with 86 – at least nine more than anyone else.

With Mohamed Salah set to leave Liverpool this summer having also signed in 2017, you would imagine most of the focus will be on the Egyptian’s departure at the campaign’s end, but Silva will more than deserve his flowers too should his time at the Etihad Stadium come to a close.

He has won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups, a Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. Not bad.

And, of course, with time still to go this season, there are two more possible trophies to add to that.

With Bernardo Silva, it’s fair to say City struck gold.

1. Which of this week’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals is already the most-played fixture in major European competition history?

2. Real Madrid’s Álvaro Arbeloa could become only the third manager to win his first five knockout matches in the Champions League. Name either of the other two bosses to do so.

3. Arsenal have won three of their previous eight Champions League quarter-final ties. Who did they beat at this stage last season?

4. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal has five goals and four assists in eight Champions League appearances this season. Should he score or assist against Atlético Madrid on Wednesday, he will become the youngest player to record 10+ goal involvements in a single edition (18y 269d), beating the current record held by whom?

5. Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in their last seven knockout stage matches in the Champions League (W6 D1), and could equal the longest run by a French side in the competition if they avoid defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday (8 by Lyon – April 2004-March 2006). Who were the last team to beat them in such a game?

Scroll to the bottom for the answers.

Our question this week comes from Sven L, who asks: “I saw Son Heung-min got four assists in the first half for LAFC at the weekend. Has that ever happened before?”

Do you have a stat-based question you’d like Opta to answer in a future edition of SVQ? Email us at [email protected] or message us on X @OptaAnalyst with #AskOpta and we’ll pick the best one.

Answer:

Four assists in one half is a remarkable achievement, and Son recorded them all in the space of less than 20 minutes (19 mins, 32 secs). However, as so often is the case with football records, Lionel Messi already wore it best.

The Inter Miami star produced four assists in an MLS game in May 2024 against RBNY in just 18 minutes and 57 seconds.

Son, of course, used to strut his stuff in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur, and there are only two previous examples of a Spurs player recording four assists in a single game in the competition: Emmanuel Adebayor against Newcastle United in February 2012 and Harry Kane vs Southampton in September 2020. Funnily enough, all four of Kane’s assists against Saints were for Son to score.

Like Son, Adebayor’s four assists against Newcastle all came in the first half, with his first for Benoît Assou-Ekotto in the fourth minute and his fourth for Niko Kranjcar in the 34th minute, either side of two for Louis Saha. He also scored the fifth goal himself in a 5-0 victory for Tottenham.

The other six players to manage four assists in a Premier League game are Dennis Bergkamp (vs Leicester City in Feb 1999), José Antonio Reyes (vs Middlesbrough in Jan 2006), Cesc Fàbregas (vs Blackburn Rovers in Oct 2009), Santi Cazorla (vs Wigan in May 2013), Paul Pogba (vs Leeds United in August 2021), and Jérémy Doku (vs Bournemouth in November 2023).

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1. Which of this week’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals is already the most-played fixture in major European competition history?

Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich – All 28 of their meetings have come in the European Cup/Champions League, with 26 of them taking place in the knockout stages

2. Real Madrid’s Álvaro Arbeloa could become only the third manager to win his first five knockout matches in the Champions League. Name either of the other two bosses to do so.

Hansi Flick (5 in 2019-20 with Bayern Munich) and Luis Enrique (5 in 2014-15 with Barcelona)

3. Arsenal have won three of their previous eight Champions League quarter-final ties. Who did they beat at this stage last season?

Real Madrid

4. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal has five goals and four assists in eight Champions League appearances this season. Should he score or assist against Atlético Madrid on Wednesday, he will become the youngest player to record 10+ goal involvements in a single edition (18y 269d), beating the current record held by whom?

Erling Haaland (19y 212d – 10 goals, 1 assist in 2019-2020)

5. Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in their last seven knockout stage matches in the Champions League (W6 D1), and could equal the longest run by a French side in the competition if they avoid defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday (8 by Lyon – April 2004-March 2006). Who were the last team to beat them in such a game?

Aston Villa, 3-2 in the second leg of last season’s quarter-final at Villa Park (PSG won 5-4 on aggregate)

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Opta Analyst