Stats: Inter Milan, Lukaku break Europa League records; Fernandes leads scoring charts

Two hard-fought battles marked the start of the quarterfinals of the 2019-20 Europa League in Germany. Manchester United beat FC Copenhagen 1-0 (after extra time) thanks to a Bruno Fernandes penalty. Inter Milan saw off Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 thanks to goals from Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku, while Kai Havertz scored for the German side.

Here are the notable stats from these two matches:

1

Inter Milan have reached their first European semi-final since the Champions League in 2009-10, when they won the historic treble under Jose Mourinho.

1 Related

8

This is the eighth time Inter Milan have reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup/Europa League – the most by any side. It is, however, their first since 2001-02. They last won title in 1997-98, when Ivan Zamarano, Javier Zanetti and Ronaldo gave Inter a 3-0 win over Lazio.

9

Romelu Lukaku has now scored in nine consecutive appearances in the Europa League (dating back to 2014). This is the longest goal-scoring run by a player in UEFA Cup/Europa League history, breaking a tie with Alan Shearer (eight).

7

Bruno Fernandes is now the leading goal scorer in the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League with seven goals — five with Sporting Lisbon, two with Manchester United.

Since the 2017-18 season, Bruno Fernandes has played a direct role in more goals in the Europa League than any other player. Getty 21

Since the start of the 2017-18 Europa League, Bruno Fernandes has had a direct hand in 21 goals (13 goals, 8 assists) in the competition; more than any other player in this period.

21

Manchester United have won their 21st penalty in all competitions this season, more than any other side in the top five European leagues.

13

Copenhagen goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson made 13 saves vs. Manchester United — the joint-most in a single game since the Europa League began in 2009.

31

Romelu Lukaku’s 31 goals in all competitions this season are the third-highest by an Inter Milan player in the last 40 years (behind Ronaldo, who hit 34 in 1997-98, and Eto’o, who scored 37 in 2010-11). Quite the debut season, eh?

73%

Manchester United have kept a clean sheet in 73% of their games under Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the Europa League (eight clean sheets in 11 games). This is the highest percentage of any manager to have taken charge of 10+ games at a club in the competition.