Forward pair chase scoring honour

Closest rivals
Of the 19 players to have hit four or more goals, only eight remain in the competition. Ruud van Nistelrooij leads the way with eight, but with Manchester United FC eliminated by AC Milan in the last round, Adriano and Makaay will hope to register the one goal they need to draw level and eventually overtake him. However, Makaay has a thigh injury which could prevent him appearing in Wednesday's first leg against Chelsea FC, while Adriano will miss Inter's meeting with Milan on the same day with a knee ligament problem.

Essien prolific
Two goals further back are another Nerazzurri forward, Obafemi Martins, and Michael Essien of Olympique Lyonnais - the most prolific midfield player in the tournament. The Ghanaian was on target twice as Lyon defeated Werder Bremen 7-2 in the second leg of their first knockout round tie last month, nine of 48 goals scored in that stage which represented an increase of 65 per cent on the same phase last season.

French fliers
Lyon are the fourth team - and the third from France - to hit seven or more goals in a Champions League fixture, following Paris Saint-Germain FC (7-2 v Rosenborg BK in October 2000), AS Monaco FC (8-3 v RC Deportivo La Coruña in November 2003) and Juventus FC (7-0 v Olympiacos CFP the following month).

Goals galore
Indeed, French clubs are the first to score six, seven or eight goals in a single Champions League game since the competition was revised. Olympique de Marseille got things going by beating PFC CSKA Moskva 6-0 en route to winning the inaugural tournament in 1993.