Did you know about these Europa League stats?
Manchester United will be aiming to reach the Europa League quarter-finals for the fourth time in seven years when taking on Real Betis in the competition’s round-of-16.
It’s been a positive continental campaign so far for Erik ten Hag’s side, with the home defeat to Real Sociedad in September the only real blip in eight matches which have included a win in the reverse fixture in San Sebastian plus the brilliant 4-3 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the recent play-off round.
The Reds’ impressive performances in Europe bear out when we take a look at the underlying numbers, too…
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ATTACKING STATS
Marcus Rashford is the joint-leading scorer in the competition this season, having registered four goals in his six appearances so far. Three of those strikes came during the group stage, with his brace in Nicosia followed up by a header at home to Sheriff Tiraspol. Marcus also scored a brilliant individual goal in Barcelona which sees him sit level with Vitinha (Braga), Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco) and Santiago Gimenez (Feyenoord) at the top of the Europa League charts – only Gimenez is still competing, as Braga and Monaco exited during the play-off stage.
Bruno Fernandes leads the rankings for passes into the penalty area (15) and shot-creating actions (45) and is one of only three Reds to have played in every one of our Europa League games under Erik ten Hag, along with David De Gea and Casemiro.
Despite leaving the club in November, Cristiano Ronaldo has still taken more shots (30) than any other player in the competition.
DEFENDING STATS
It probably won’t come as a surprise to learn that the tough-tackling Casemiro leads the tournament for blocks, having made 19 so far – two more than Jannik Haberer, who plays for Union Berlin.
Another United summer signing, Lisandro Martinez, scores highly in several metrics, including dribblers tackled – the Argentina has stopped 13 players in their tracks, which puts him level with Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven) and Amadou Dante (Sturm Graz).
Of course, the World Cup winner is known for his incisive passing from deep too and no one can match his 54 passes into the final third, while only Casemiro and former Red Angel Di Maria (currently at Juventus) are in the same ballpark when it comes to through balls (five).
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GOALKEEPING STATS
De Gea has kept goal for every minute of our European campaign so far and his eight Europa League games have seen him register four clean sheets, which no other keeper in the competition can beat. Frederik Ronnow, of Union Berlin, and Real Sociedad’s Alex Remiro are also on four and remain in the competition, so could end up going ahead of David.
TEAM STATS
United have had more attempts on goal (142) in this year’s competition than any other side, although PSV Eindhoven have scored more goals, with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s outfit registering 17 prior to their play-off elimination. Ligue 1 clubs Monaco and Rennes were also on 14 before they exited the tournament last month.
Our domination of group-stage games with Omonia Nicosia and Sheriff Tiraspol, plus front-foot away showings in San Sebastian and Barcelona, mean we are by far and away the Europa League's premier passing side. United have completed 3,809 passes in the tournament, at a rate of over 450 per game. This is 600 more than Monaco.
Stats provided by FBRef.com and UEFA.com.