Europa Conference League stats dive: Alternative stars of the knockout round play-off second legs
Friday, February 25, 2022
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Who made the most saves, crosses, clearances, ball recoveries and completed passes in the knockout round play-off second legs?
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UEFA.com has a treasure trove of statistics covering many aspects of play to enhance the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's newest club competition.
In this piece, presented by Swissquote, we sift through the data to see who earned top billing across a number of match-defining metrics.
Most passes completed
97: Carl Starfelt (Celtic)
83: Stephen Welsh (Celtic)
73: Kevin Medina (Qarabağ)
69: Filip Panák (Sparta Praha)
Despite ending up on the losing side against Bodø/Glimt, Celtic's central defenders Starfelt and Welsh both racked up impressive figures for their distribution, Starfelt having also been a top passing contender in the first leg. Likewise, centre-halves Medina and Panák ranked highly too, though their sides also bowed out of Europa Conference League contention.
Crosses completed
5: Srdjan Plavšić (Slavia Praha)
3: Abdellah Zoubir (Qarabağ)
Floating wide from a No10 position, Slavia's pint-sized Plavšić initiated the first of the Czech side's three goals against Fenerbahçe with a deep inswinging delivery. Registering the next best number of crosses, Zoubir proved a nuisance on Qarabağ's left, despite a fairly straightforward Marseille victory in Baku.
Balls recovered
13: Kevin Wimmer (Rapid Wien)
12: Danilho Doekhi (Vitesse)
12: Alois Oroz (Vitesse)
11: Ibrahim Sangaré (PSV)
Responsible for a chunk of Rapid Wien's total of 44 balls recovered, Wimmer topped the table. However, just behind him, Vitesse's key battlers Doekhi and Oroz recovered 12 apiece as they helped the Dutch side overturn their first-leg deficit to eliminate Wimmer and Co.
Clearances
15: Igor Vujačić (Partizan)
7: Mads Thychosen (Midtjylland)
7: Boubacar Kamara (Marseille)
7: Dávid Hancko (Sparta Praha)
6: Marcel Tisserand (Fenerbahçe)
Sparta Praha eventually penetrated Partizan's defensive blockade, but for 85 minutes Vujačic and his back line proved unbreachable. Warding off the visitors' advances, the centre-half put in a shift to help the Serbian outfit reach the last 16, racking up a massive 15 clearances in the process – the greatest number on any single matchday this season.
Most saves
5: Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester)
5: Joël Drommel (PSV)
5: Elias Rafn Olafsson (Midtjylland)
5: Altay Bayındır (Fenerbahçe)
4: Joe Hart (Celtic)
As their whopping 23 attempts on goal implies, Leicester's opponents Randers needed something special to recover from their 4-1 first-leg defeat. With only a handful of those a true threat, Schmeichel looked set for a clean sheet to go with his five saves – until a late lapse in concentration gifted the Danish hosts a consolation. Elsewhere, without Drommel's vital 87th-minute reaction save against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, PSV's round of 16 fate may have been different as the game had begun to tip in the Israeli club's favour.
