If unwanted results are bad enough, being handed them by a bitter rival makes it even worse. FIFA.com reflects on that being the case for one of Europe’s most prominent coaches and two of its most prominent clubs, as well as an unstoppable striker in Medellin and hegemony by the Pearl River.
21 minutes is all Miguel Borja required to score a treble that kept alive Atletico Nacional’s hopes of a historic treble. El Verde, who won the Copa Libertadores in July and will play at December’s FIFA Club World Cup, were in the final quarter of their Copa Sudamericana tie with Coritiba when the 23-year-old turned an aggregate deficit into a semi-final place. The hat-trick, which included a sensational scissor-kick, flew the 23-year-old to the top of the tournament’s scoring chart. Borja has now netted 11 goals in 11 games for Nacional in continental competition.
13 was Gianluigi Donnarumma’s age when AC Milan had last defeated Juventus heading into their latest showdown. Since Robinho’s unanswered goal in 2012, Juve had won nine successive games against Milan in all competitions. Donnarumma’s goalkeeping heroics – and Manuel Locatelli’s blockbuster – proved enough for Milan to stop the rot on Sunday. The 18-year-old midfielder has now scored with both his shots on target in Serie A. The result ended Juventus’s streak of six straight wins, though Milan’s six-game unbeaten run was extinguished by Genoa on Tuesday.
10 rounds is what is took Feyenoord to lose their record-breaking, 100-per-cent start to the Eredivisie season – and it came courtesy of their arch-enemies. Feyenoord conceded their 1,000th home goal in the Dutch top tier when Kasper Dolberg fired Ajax ahead, but Dirk Kuyt equalised late on – the 36-year-old consequently became the third-oldest player to score in De Klassieker after Johan Cruyff and Arnold Muhren – to extend the Rotterdam powerhouse's unbeaten record in the competition to 21 matches. Feyenoord have nonetheless won just one of their last 21 Eredivisie clashes with Ajax.
6 matches without victory is what Pep Guardiola has gone for the first time in his managerial career. After winning the first ten games of his Manchester City reign, the 45-year-old Spaniard’s side have since drawn with Celtic, Everton and Southampton and lost to Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona and Manchester United. Against United, in a 1-0 defeat in the League Cup on Wednesday, City failed to register a shot on target for the first time in four-and-a-half years. The result came as welcome relief to Jose Mourinho. Just three days earlier the Portuguese had suffered his worst Premier League defeat – 4-0 at former team Chelsea. It left him with 13 losses from his last 27 league games as a manager – his previous 13 defeats had come over 135 outings. Curiously, United’s four heaviest Premier League losses have all come in October: 5-0 to Newcastle United in 1996, 5-0 to Chelsea in 2000, 6-1 to Manchester City in 2011 and Sunday’s.
6 consecutive Chinese Super League titles have been won by Guangzhou Evergrande – a run during which they became the first team in history to defend the crown. Paulinho’s fourth goal in five games seized Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side the point they required against Yanbian Fude on Sunday to end the challenge of Jiangsu Suning. The 2016 season has seen a record average match attendance of almost 25,000 – the 2014 campaign averaged under 19,000.
Quick hits 771 days after he last played 90 minutes in the Premier League, injury-plagued Jack Wilshere repeated the feat for Bournemouth against Tottenham Hotspur.
72 per cent of PSV’s goals in 2016/17 have been scored away from home.
12 hours and 43 minutes: that is how long Mario Mandzukic had gone without scoring for Juventus until he bagged a diving header against Sampdoria on Wednesday.
5 years after he last played for Argentina, Fernando Belluschi received an international recall from Edgardo Bauza – despite having recently returned to play in his homeland after a decade abroad and having turned 33.