Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday night ensured Carlo Ancelotti’s current crop of players go into the club history books having scored the most goals in the Champions League group stage.
Ronaldo’s strike, the final goal of the evening, was Madrid’s 20th in the six group stage matches, a rate of more than three a game. It meant the class of 2013/14 beat the record set in the 2011/12 season, when Los Blancos racked up 19 goals in the group stage. The next best figure in the list is 17, scored in the 1998/99 season.
As well as setting a new club record for the amount of goals scored in the group stage, they also join Manchester United and Barcelona as the teams who have scored the most, in 1998 and 2011 respectively.
Los Merengues started this season’s European adventure with a thumping 6-1 over Galatasaray in Istanbul. They then defeated FC Copenhagen 4-0 at the Bernabeu, before the back-to-back fixtures with Juventus which ended 2-1 to the nine-time European Cup winners at home, and 2-2 in Turin. Another big win was recorded against Galatasaray at the Santiago Bernabeu, 4-1, before Tuesday’s 2-0 victory in Denmark.
Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record for individual goalscoring exploits, accounting for almost half of Los Blancos’ goals. His nine strikes means he broke the previous record of eight in the group stages held by the likes of Ruud van Nistlerooy, Filippo Inzaghi and Hernan Crespo.
