Radamel Falcao’s strike-rate has come down a little since spells at Porto and Atlético Madrid, but Monaco’s Colombian striker remains one of the greatest UEFA competition strikers ever. Read proof.
• Colombia’s top scorer in UEFA competitions, Falcao hit 22 goals in 24 games for Porto, 16 in 18 for Atlético and thus far has scored ten in 18 for Monaco. His total would have been significantly higher had he not suffered a serious knee injury in the 2013/14 campaign. He did not play a UEFA competition game between February 2013 and July 2016.
• Only four of the 28 sides Falcao has faced have managed to deny him a goal; Club Brugge, Sevilla, Tottenham and Juventus.
• Plenty more teams are sick of the sight of him, not least Beşiktaş, who Falcao has scored against in UEFA competition for all three of his clubs: Porto, Atlético Madrid and Monaco.
• Falcao is the UEFA Europa League’s all time top scorer (group stage to final), and scored one of only two UEFA Super Cup hat-tricks (for Atlético against Chelsea in 2012) – those three goals making him one of that competition’s top marksmen too.
• In total, Falcao has scored three UEFA competition hat-tricks, including a four-goal haul against Villarreal in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League semi-final opener. He scored in the return leg too, meaning the Yellow Submarine have been his most profitable opponents to date.
• Including qualifying, he has scored 14 in 26 UEFA Champions League games, 31 in 33 UEFA Europa League games and three in one UEFA Super Cup match.
• Falcao’s goals per UEFA game record remains the best of any comparable striker of his era; in terms of minutes per goal, his record of one every 98m23s is better than those of Lionel Messi (100m7s) and Cristiano Ronaldo (112m52s).
Who has Falcao scored against in UEFA competition?
| Opponents by club |
Games | Minutes | Goals | Minutes per goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APOEL | 2 | 177 | 1 | 177m |
|
Arsenal |
2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
|
Athletic Club |
1 | 90 | 2 | 45m |
|
Atlético |
3 | 248 | 2 | 124m |
|
Beşiktaş |
5 | 395 | 4 | 98m45s |
|
Braga |
1 | 90 | 1 | 90m |
| Celtic | 2 | 113 | 1 | 113m |
| Chelsea | 3 | 213 | 3 | 105m30s |
| Club Brugge | 1 | 61 | – | – |
| CSKA Moskva | 3 | 241 | 2 | 120m30s |
| CSKA Sofia | 2 | 132 | 1 | 116m |
| Dortmund | 3 | 242 | 1 | 242m |
|
Fenerbahçe |
2 | 134 | 2 | 67m |
| Genk | 2 | 138 | 1 | 138m |
| Hannover |
2 | 180 | 2 | 90m |
| Juventus | 2 | 180 | – | – |
| Lazio | 2 | 119 | 2 | 59m30s |
| Leipzig | 2 | 179 | 1 | 179m |
| Manchester City | 1 | 90 | 2 | 45m |
| Porto | 2 | 114 | 1 | 114m |
| Rapid Wien | 2 | 168 | 4 | 42m |
| Rennes | 2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
| Rubin | 2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
| Sevilla | 1 | 74 | – | – |
| Spartak Moskva | 2 | 162 | 4 | 40m30s |
| Tottenham | 2 | 170 | – | – |
| Udinese | 2 | 173 | 1 | 173m |
| Valencia | 2 | 180 | 2 | 90m |
| Villarreal | 2 | 180 | 5 | 36m |
| TOTAL | 60 | 4783 | 48 | 99m39s |
• Falcao has faced clubs from 13 different nations during his UEFA club career, and unusually has found some of his best scoring form against sides from the highest-ranked league: the Spanish Liga.
• Italian and German clubs have contained him reasonably well, but English teams tend to find him harder to handle: a goal conceded every 108m50s in eight games to date.
Which nations’ clubs has Falcao scored against?
| Opponents by nationality |
Games | Minutes | Goals | Minutes per goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 2 | 168 | 4 | 42m |
| Belgium | 3 | 199 | 1 | 199m |
| Bulgaria | 2 | 132 | 1 | 132m |
| Cyprus | 2 | 177 | 1 | 177m |
| England | 8 | 653 | 6 | 108m50s |
| France | 2 | 180 | 1 | 180m |
| Germany | 7 | 601 | 4 | 150m15s |
| Italy | 6 | 472 | 3 | 157m20s |
| Portugal | 3 | 204 | 2 | 102m |
| Russia | 7 | 583 | 7 | 83m17s |
| Scotland | 2 | 113 | 1 | 113m |
| Spain | 9 | 772 | 11 | 70m11s |
| Turkey | 7 | 529 | 6 | 88m10s |
| TOTAL | 60 | 4783 | 48 | 99m39s |
When Falcao has scored his UEFA club competition goals
• Falcao’s all-round prowess as a forward is a constant strain on opposition defenders, and that strain seems to show more at the end of each half; a disproportionate number of his goals come between the 31st minute and half-time, and 76 minutes and the final whistle.
• He has scored five penalties in UEFA competitions, but also had three saved; for Porto, against CSKA Sofia in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League, and for Monaco, against Tottenham and Manchester City in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League.
| Time | Goals (penalties) |
|---|---|
| 0-10 | 4 |
| 11-20 | 6 (1) |
| 21-30 | 4 (1) |
| 31-40 | 9 (2) |
| 41-half-time | 3 |
| FIRST HALF | 26 |
| 46-55 | 4 (1) |
| 56-65 | 4 |
| 66-75 | 3 |
| 76-85 | 8 |
| 85-full-time | 3 |
| SECOND HALF | 22 |
| TOTAL | 48 |
Be the first to comment