UEFA Champions League - 2020/21 SeasonMatch press kits

Two of Germany's most high-profile coaches face off as Julian Nagelsmann's Leipzig welcome a Liverpool side led by Jürgen Klopp in the first leg of their teams' round of 16 tie.

• Leipzig are in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds for the second time after their 2019/20 debut, ensuring a round of 16 return by finishing second behind Paris Saint-Germain in Group H thanks to a dramatic Matchday 6 victory against Liverpool's domestic rivals Manchester United. Liverpool, meanwhile, came first in Group D, winning four of their six matches to reach this stage for the fourth season in a row.

• This is the first fixture between the teams.

Form guide
Leipzig
• Leipzig have won all three home games in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, beating İstanbul Başakşehir (2-0) and Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) before the 3-2 win against United on Matchday 6 that secured progress. They lost their first two away games, going down 5-0 at United and 1-0 in Paris, but recorded a crucial 4-3 victory at İstanbul Başakşehir on Matchday 5, substitute Alexander Sørloth scoring an added-time winner.

• This is Leipzig's third UEFA Champions League campaign, all in the last four seasons, and their fourth foray into European football overall.

• The 2019/20 season proved to be the most successful in Leipzig's brief European history, Nagelsmann's side going all the way to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Leipzig picked up 11 points to finish first in their section – they had come third in their two previous group stage campaigns in UEFA competition – ahead of Lyon, Benfica and Zenit.

• Leipzig then beat 2018/19 runners-up Tottenham in their first UEFA Champions League knockout tie (1-0 a, 3-0 h) and Atlético de Madrid (2-1) in a one-off quarter-final in Lisbon prior to a 3-0 semi-final defeat by Paris.

• Leipzig have now won 12 of their 22 UEFA Champions League fixtures (D3 L7).

• The German side have won their last four home European games and are unbeaten on their own ground since a 2-0 loss to Lyon on Matchday 2 last season; their subsequent home record is W5 D1.

• Third in the Bundesliga for the second season in a row in 2019/20, this is Leipzig's fourth European campaign and only their 41st match. In 2017/18 they became the first team to make their European debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• This season's Matchday 6 win at home to Manchester United made it three victories from Leipzig's four games against English clubs although the exception, a 5-0 reverse at Old Trafford, was their heaviest European defeat.

Liverpool
• The Reds won their first three games in this season's competition without conceding, beating Ajax (1-0) and Atalanta (5-0) away and Midtjylland (2-0) at home. A 2-0 defeat by the Italian side on Matchday 4 was their first group stage reverse at Anfield since October 2014, but progress and first place were assured by another 1-0 win against Ajax on Matchday 5 before a closing 1-1 draw at Midtjylland.

• Liverpool were champions of England for the 19th time in 2019/20, their first league title since 1990.

• The Reds are in the UEFA Champions League for the 13th time; this is the tenth time they have reached the last 16.

• Klopp's side also finished top of Group E in 2019/20, recovering from losing their opening fixture 2-0 at Napoli to advance with 13 points ahead of the Italian club. They sealed progress on Matchday 6 with a 2-0 victory at Salzburg.

• Liverpool had won their sixth European Cup in 2018/19, but their defence of the trophy came to a halt in the round of 16, Atlético winning 1-0 in Spain and, after extra time, 3-2 at Anfield. The latter result ended Liverpool's 25-match unbeaten home run in Europe (W18 D7), since a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid on 22 October 2014, and was their first aggregate defeat in 12 two-legged knockout ties in UEFA competition.

• Liverpool have won 13 of their last 21 European fixtures (D3 L5).

• Liverpool's last game against a Bundesliga side came in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League, a round of 16 win against Bayern München (0-0 h, 3-1 a) that made their record in two-legged ties against German clubs W15 L2. They have won the last five, since a 4-3 aggregate defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2001/02 quarter-finals (1-0 h, 2-4 a).

• The Reds are unbeaten in ten games with German clubs since that 2002 loss at Leverkusen (W7 D3) – their only reverse in their past 18 fixtures (W11 D6).

• Liverpool are unbeaten in five games in Germany (W3 D2), where their record overall is W4 D9 L5.

• Last season's defeat at Atlético in the round of 16 is Liverpool's only loss in their last six UEFA Champions League away matches (W4 D1).

• The Merseyside club are in the round of 16 for the fourth season in a row and the ninth overall; their record is W6 L2. Both defeats have come as holders; against Benfica in 2005/06 (0-1 a, 0-2 h) and Atlético last season.

• Last season's elimination by Atlético was Liverpool's first aggregate defeat in the UEFA Champions League since a 7-5 aggregate loss to Chelsea in the 2008/09 quarter-finals.

• Before last season, the Reds were unbeaten in eight matches in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 (W6 D2); they had kept seven consecutive clean sheets before conceding at Bayern in 2018/19. Their previous defeat before losing at Atlético was a 1-0 loss at home to Barcelona in the 2006/07 second leg; they won that tie on away goals having triumphed 2-1 in Spain.

Links and trivia
• Klopp's Liverpool beat Nagelsmann's Hoffenheim 6-3 on aggregate in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League play-offs, Trent Alexander-Arnold opening the scoring in a 2-1 first-leg victory in Sinsheim before goals from Mohamed Salah and former Hoffenheim striker Roberto Firmino helped the English club to a 4-2 victory at Anfield.

• Naby Keïta was a Leipzig player between 2016 and 2018, when he joined Liverpool. He scored 17 goals in 71 appearances for Leipzig, where his team-mates included Péter Gulácsi, Marcel Halstenberg, Lukas Klostermann, Willy Orban, Emil Forsberg, Marcel Sabitzer, Kevin Kampl, Ibrahima Konaté, Dayot Upamecano, Konrad Laimer and Yussuf Poulsen.

• Gulácsi was on the books at Liverpool between 2007 and 2013, but did not make a first-team appearance. He had loan spells at Hereford United (2009), Tranmere (2010) and Hull (2011/12) before leaving permanently for Salzburg in 2013.

• Have also played in Germany:
Joël Matip (Schalke 2000–16)
Thiago Alcántara (Bayern München 2013–20)
Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern München 2012–15)
Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim 2011–15)
Divock Origi (Wolfsburg 2017/18)
Nathaniel Phillips (Stuttgart 2019/20 loan)

• Have also played in England:
Angeliño (Manchester City 2013–18, 2019)
Alexander Sørloth (Crystal Palace 2018–19)

• International team-mates:
Dani Olmo & Thiago Alcántara (Spain)
Justin Kluivert & Georginio Wijnaldum, Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)

• Have played together:
Marcel Sabitzer & Takumi Minamino (Salzburg 2016–18, 2019/20)
Hee-chan Hwang & Takumi Minamino (Salzburg 2015)
Konrad Laimer & Takumi Minamino (Salzburg 2015–17)

• Justin Kluivert and Alisson were briefly team-mates at Roma in summer 2018.

• Klopp was coach of Borussia Dortmund when Kevin Kampl joined the club in January 2015.

• Thiago scored in Bayern's 3-0 Bundesliga win against Leipzig on 21 December 2016. He was also on target in a 5-4 Bayern win on 13 May 2017, with Sabitzer and Poulsen among the Leipzig scorers.

• Firmino scored in Brazil's 2-1 defeat of Sabitzer's Austria in a friendly on 18 November 2014, his first international goal in his second appearance.

• Wijnaldum's goal helped the Netherlands to a 4-2 win against a Germany side including Klostermann in a UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier on 6 September 2019.

UEFA Champions League: Did you know?

Overall records
• In 2016/17 Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League trophy, with AC Milan (1989, 1990) the previous club to win consecutive European Cups. Milan (1994, 1995), Ajax (1995, 1996), Juventus (1996, 1997) and Manchester United (2008, 2009) have all returned to the UEFA Champions League final as holders only to lose.

• Real Madrid's 2018 triumph made them the first team to win three successive European Cups twice. The Spanish side won the first five editions of the tournament, between 1956 and 1960; Ajax (1971–73) and Bayern München (1974–76) have also lifted the trophy three years in a row.

• Only two teams have ever won the UEFA Champions League on home soil: Borussia Dortmund (1997, final in Munich) and Juventus (1996, final in Rome), while Manchester United lost the 2011 final in London and 12 months later Bayern were beaten in the showpiece in their own stadium, the Fußball Arena München.

Knockout stage
• Real Madrid have qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout phase a record 25 times, including 24 in succession. They have also played a competition-high 99 knockout phase matches – ahead of Bayern München (96) and Barcelona (95).

• Teams have overturned a first-leg deficit to go through 49 times, including six in 2018/19 – a competition record for a single season – and Paris Saint-Germain in last season's round of 16.

• Before 2018/19, only twice – Ajax's defeat of Panathinaikos in the 1995/96 semi-finals and Internazionale's victory against Bayern in the 2010/11 round of 16 – had a side progressed after a home first-leg loss. However, Ajax again (against Real Madrid) and Manchester United (against Paris Saint-Germain) both achieved the feat in the 2018/19 round of 16 before Tottenham (against Ajax) did likewise in the semi-finals.

• The biggest losing margin a side has overhauled was achieved by Barcelona against Paris in the 2016/17 last 16, when they lost 4-0 away but progressed thanks to a 6-1 home success. That eclipsed the previous record held by Deportivo La Coruña in the 2003/04 quarter-finals, when they went down 4-1 at AC Milan but won 4-0 at home; Roma equalled that margin in the 2017/18 quarter-finals, turning round a 4-1 first-leg loss at Barcelona with a 3-0 home success, while in the 2018/19 semi-finals Liverpool lost 3-0 in the first leg at Barcelona but went through after a 4-0 home victory.

• Thirty-four ties have been decided on away goals, including 13 where the triumphant team lost the first leg. Bayern and Monaco have benefited from the away goals rule five times – more than any other club – whereas Internazionale have been eliminated by that method a record four times.

• In all, 30 ties have required extra time. Fourteen have been settled by extra time alone: six round of 16 encounters including Atlético-Liverpool in 2019/20, five quarter-finals, the 2007/08 semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool, and the 2013/14 final between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

• Sixteen ties have gone to penalties, including seven finals – 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2016. The first two-legged tie decided on spot kicks was PSV Eindhoven's 4-2 victory over Lyon on 13 April 2005 after a 2-2 aggregate draw, still the only quarter-final to go to penalties. Bayern, Chelsea and Atlético Madrid have all appeared in three shoot-outs, sharing the competition record, with Bayern, Atlético and Liverpool having won the most (two apiece).

• The 2015/16 round of 16 tie between Atlético Madrid and PSV was the first to finish goalless after two legs. Thirteen have finished 1-0 on aggregate, most recently Real Madrid's defeat of Manchester City in the 2015/16 semi-finals.

• Liverpool (versus Porto) and Bayern (versus Beşiktaş) both won 5-0 in the 2017/18 round of 16, equalling the knockout phase record for the biggest first-leg lead – Real Madrid's 6-1 victory at Schalke in 2013/14 and Bayern's 5-0 success at Sporting CP in 2008/09, both also in the round of 16.

• Bayern eventually beat Sporting by a record aggregate margin of 12-1 after a 7-1 stroll in the home second leg; that tie also featured more goals (13) over its two legs than any UEFA Champions League knockout tie until it was equalled by Liverpool's 7-6 aggregate win against Roma in the 2017/18 semi-final.

• Bayern and Manchester City jointly hold the record for the largest margin of victory in a UEFA Champions League knockout match. Bayern beat both Basel (2011/12) and Shakhtar Donetsk (2014/15) 7-0 in the round of 16 second leg, while City beat Schalke by the same scoreline at the same stage of the 2018/19 competition.

• A record five clubs from England participated in the 2017/18 knockout phase. Including 2019/20, England has also provided four clubs on eight other occasions – as has Spain six times and Germany three. England is the only nation to have provided four quarter-finalists in a season, 2018/19 being the third occasion after 2007/08 and 2008/09.

• There are four clubs from two nations in the round of 16 for only the fourth time in 2020/21. England and Spain both had four apiece in 2008/09, there were four each from England and Germany in 2013/14 while in 2019/20 Spain and England each had four representatives.

• Clarence Seedorf is the only player to have lifted the European Cup with three clubs (Ajax 1995, Real Madrid 1998, Milan 2003, 2007). Bob Paisley (Liverpool 1977, 1978, 1981) was the first coach to win it three times, a feat Carlo Ancelotti (Milan 2003, 2007, Real Madrid 2014) and Zinédine Zidane (2016, 2017, 2018) have replicated.

• In 2014 Ancelotti also became the fifth coach to win the trophy with two clubs; Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund 1997, Bayern 2001), Ernst Happel (Feyenoord 1970, Hamburg 1983), José Mourinho (Porto 2004, Internazionale 2010) and Jupp Heynckes (Real Madrid 1998, Bayern 2013) had previously achieved the feat.

Goalscoring records
• Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a match in Barcelona's 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen on 7 March 2012, a feat matched by Shakhtar Donetsk's Luiz Adriano at BATE Borisov on 21 October 2014. Thirteen more players, also including Messi, have scored four times in a game, most recently Josip Iličić for Atalanta in the 2019/20 round of 16 second leg against Valencia. He was the third player to score four in a game that season, all away from home, after group stage quadruples from Bayern's Serge Gnabry (Matchday 2 at Tottenham) and Robert Lewandowski (Matchday 5 at Crvena zvezda).

• Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record for a UEFA Champions League group stage with 11 goals in 2015/16, Lionel Messi got ten goals in 2016/17, a figure matched by Robert Lewandowski in 2019/20; Ronaldo (2013/14, 2017/18) and Luiz Adriano (2014/15) scored nine while Zlatan Ibrahimović (2013/14), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004/05), Filippo Inzaghi, Hernán Crespo (both 2002/03), Lewandowski (2018/19) and Erling Braut Haaland (2019/20) all managed eight.

• Messi's hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 1 of the 2018/19 competition was his eighth in the competition, a mark Ronaldo matched against Atlético de Madrid in that season's round of 16 second leg.

Oldest and youngest players
• Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta is the oldest player to compete in the UEFA Champions League having featured against Real Madrid on Matchday 6 in 2007/08 aged 43 years 252 days. Alessandro Costacurta is the oldest outfield player; the Milan defender was 40 years and 211 days when he played against AEK Athens in 2006/07.

• Francesco Totti is the oldest player to score in the competition, aged 38 years 59 days, in Roma's 1-1 draw at CSKA Moskva on 25 November 2014. Ryan Giggs (37 years 290 days) was the previous record holder.

• Youssoufa Moukoko is the youngest player to have appeared, aged 16 years 18 days for Borussia Dortmund at Zenit on 8 December 2020. He replaced Celestine Babayaro, who was 16 years 87 days when he started for Anderlecht against Steaua Bucureşti on 23 November 1994; Babayaro was sent off in the 37th minute.

• Ansu Fati's winner for Barcelona at Inter on Matchday 6 in 2019/20 made him the youngest goalscorer in UEFA Champions League history, at the age of 17 years 40 days. He eclipsed the previous record of Olympiacos's Peter Ofori-Quaye (17 years 195 days) that had lasted since 1 October 1997.

RB Leipzig
Formed: 2009

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• None

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
None

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2019/20: semi-finals
2018/19: UEFA Europa League group stage
2017/18: UEFA Europa League quarter-finals (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2016/17: did not take part in UEFA competition
2015/16: did not take part in UEFA competition
2014/15: did not take part in UEFA competition
2013/14: did not take part in UEFA competition
2012/13: did not take part in UEFA competition
2011/12: did not take part in UEFA competition
2010/11: did not take part in UEFA competition

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
4-0: Leipzig v Häcken
26/07/18, UEFA Europa League second qualifying round first leg

• Biggest away win
1-4: Monaco v Leipzig
21/11/17, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
0-2 twice, most recently v Lyon
02/10/19, UEFA Champions League group stage
Leipzig also lost 0-3 to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League semi-final, a match in which they were the designated home team

• Heaviest away defeat
5-0: Manchester United v Leipzig
28/10/20, UEFA Champions League group stage

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final)
• Biggest home win
3-0: Leipzig v Tottenham
10/03/20, round of 16 second leg

• Biggest away win
1-4: Monaco v Leipzig (see above)

• Heaviest home defeat
0-2: Leipzig v Lyon (see above)
Leipzig also lost 0-3 to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019/20 semi-final (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
5-0: Manchester United v Leipzig (see above)

Liverpool FC
Formed: 1892
Nickname: The Reds

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• European Cup/UEFA Champions League (6): 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, (1985), 2005, (2007), (2018), 2019
• UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League (3): 1973, 1976, 2001, (2016)
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: (1966)
• UEFA Super Cup (4): 1977, (1978), (1984), 2001, 2005, 2019
• European/South American Cup: (1981), (1984)

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 19 (2020)
FA Cup: 7 (2006)
League Cup: 8 (2012)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2019/20: round of 16
2018/19: winners
2017/18: runners-up
2016/17: did not take part in UEFA competition
2015/16: UEFA Europa League runners-up
2014/15: UEFA Europa League round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2013/14: did not take part in UEFA competition
2012/13: UEFA Europa League round of 32
2011/12: did not take part in UEFA competition
2010/11: UEFA Europa League round of 16

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
11-0: Liverpool v Strømsgodset
17/09/74, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round first leg

• Biggest away win
0-7: Maribor v Liverpool
17/10/17, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
0-3: Liverpool v Real Madrid
22/10/14, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest away defeat
5-1: Ajax v Liverpool
07/12/66, European Champion Clubs' Cup second round first leg

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final only)
• Biggest home win
8-0: Liverpool v Beşiktaş
06/11/07, group stage

• Biggest away win
0-7: Maribor v Liverpool (see above)

• Heaviest home defeat
0-3: Liverpool v Real Madrid (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
3-0: Barcelona v Liverpool
01/05/19, semi-final first leg