The opening round of the League Phase in the Champions League 2025-26 season got off to a flyer with some stunning results and dramatic endings as clubs went all in for the first set of games to take early advantage in the 36-team table. Premier League teams reigned supreme, as for the first time, they managed to beat three Spanish sides in the first round of the competition, including the dramatic 3-2 win for Liverpool against Atletico Madrid at Anfield. However, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona remain unscathed as they lodged 2-1 wins over Marseille and Newcastle, respectively. The most pulsating games among all were undoubtedly Juventus playing an eight-goal thriller with Dortmund, which was only the fourth 4-4 draw in Champions League history. It was a night where incredible records were set both collectively and on individual levels, with particularly forwards having a meal after so many goals in the opening round.
Here are the records set in Round 1 of the League Phase in Champions League 2025-26:
Goals galore
There were 67 goals in 18 games in the opening round of the League Phase in this season's Champions League, which is the most ever scored in the opening round of games in any season in the competition, surpassing the 63 scored in 2000-01. The goal tally was aided by the massive 4-4 draw played between Juventus and Dortmund and the highest margins of wins recorded by PSG (4-0 vs Atalanta), Club Brugge (4-1 vs Monaco), Frankfurt (5-1 vs Galatasaray) and Sporting CP (4-1 vs Kairat Almaty), each scoring four or more in their victories.
Fastest to a half-century
Manchester City's Erling Haaland reached another stellar scoring milestone in his career, netting the opener in the eventual 2-0 win over Napoli at Etihad Stadium. That clinical header from the Norwegian made him the fastest player to score his 50th in the UEFA Champions League on his 49th appearance in the competition. He reached the half-century mark in goals in at least 13 appearances fewer than any other player, with Ruud van Nistelrooy the closest in 62 appearances. With the competition now played in an elongated League format and Haaland achieving this feat while entering his prime, it would not be a surprise to see him among the top all-time goal scorers in the Champions League.
Rashford Highs
Marcus Rashford scored his first goals for FC Barcelona since joining the club on loan from Manchester United this summer, securing a 2-0 win against Newcastle to start their League Phase campaign on a high note. It was a special evening for the 27-year-old who broke multiple records with his splendid performance, including the first Barcelona player to score a brace on his away debut in the Champions League, being only the second Englishman after Gary Lineker to feature for the Catalan giants in European competition and the first English player to score on his debut against an English team with a non-English club in the Champions League since Harry Kane against Manchester United in 2023.
Redeeming himself
Not only the goals, Rashford also ranked first or joint first for Barcelona for shots (6), touches in the opposition box (10), dribbles (5) and possession won (6), making him the first Barcelona player to produce those numbers in a Champions League match since a certain Lionel Messi back in 2015. This was his seventh strike against the Magpies in all competitions, only scoring more against Leicester City with eight, making them the favourite opponent of the Red Devils’ academy graduate. If this was a hint of something big to come for Rashford in his new destination, then we are expected to see the best of the player again and make Barcelona’s attack lethal than ever.
English touch
It was not only one Englishman who took the spotlight, the Three Lions’ captain, Harry Kane, set a new benchmark for himself following his brace against Chelsea at the Allianz Arena. The former Premier League player scored from the spot in the 27th minute, which he won and then scored the sealer in the 62nd minute in the dominant 3-1 victory for the Bundesliga giants. Those strikes took his goal involvement tally in the Champions League to 53, 42 goals and 11 assists, overtaking David Beckham, who had 52 (16 goals, 36 assists), the most by any Englishman.
Mo Magic
More Premier League players made an impact in the opening round of the 2025-26 League Phase of the Champions League as Liverpool's marksman, Mohamed Salah, set his own stunning record in the competition. The Egyptian’s free-kick against Atletico Madrid in the second minute was deflected in by Andrew Robertson before he himself got on the scoresheet to make him the only player in Champions League history to both score and assist inside the opening six minutes of a match for an English club. It was also for the first time in the Diego Simeone era and in their Champions League history that Los Rojiblancos conceded twice in the first six minutes of a game, making Salah the second most prolific goalscorer against them in the competition, after Cristiano Ronaldo (7), with three goals.
Goal-scoring defender
Although Atletico Madrid was able to clear the deficit with Marcos Llorente, once again netting a brace at Anfield, Liverpool managed to find a late winner after squandering a 2-0 lead, as they did in the first two Premier League games of the season. It was their towering captain, Virgil van Dijk’s header in the second minute of stoppage time gave the Reds all three points this time and set an interesting landmark for the Dutchman. Known to be one of the best in his role in defending, Van Dijk has also established a scoring record for himself, with this being his 25th header for the club since joining them in 2018. No other defender has scored more in that period, while only Robert Lewandowski with 44 goals for Bayern Munich, Harry Kane with 32 for Tottenham, Karim Benzema with 31 for Real Madrid and Ante Budimir (26 for Osasuna) have scored more for a single team in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more than him in that time.
Appearance milestone
It was a bitter defeat to swallow for Atletico Madrid, but they could at least cherish their revered shot-stopper reaching a milestone on the evening. Captain Jan Oblak became the first goalkeeper to reach 500 appearances in all competitions for Atletico Madrid and the third most appearances in the history of the club, behind only Koke with 688 and Adelardo with 550. The Slovenian joined the club in 2014, becoming one of the best in his role and an integral part of the club’s renewed status under Simeone.
Dominance
Real Madrid have had 15 shots on target in their first Champions League match with Xabi Alonso on the bench, their highest tally in a manager's Champions League debut since the 2003–04 season. 11 shots on target in the first 45 minutes in the 2-1 comeback win against Marseille, their most in the first half of a Champions League game in the same period. Geronimo Rulli made a remarkable 10 saves in the first half of the game for the Ligue 1 outfit, no goalkeeper has had more in 10 years.
Another fifty
With his penalty brace, Kylian Mbappé has now scored 50 goals in 64 matches for Real Madrid in all competitions, becoming the fastest player to reach 50 goals for the Los Blancos since Cristiano Ronaldo in November 2010, with 51 goals in 54 appearances. Not only that, the Frenchman has bagged 56 goals in 88 Champions League matches, equalling Ruud van Nistelrooy (56 goals in 73 appearances) as the seventh highest scorer in the competition's history. On the same night, Franco Mastantuono became the youngest player to start a Champions League match for Real Madrid, at just 18 years and 33 days old, beating Endrick's previous record set in November 2024 at 18 years and 73 days.
