Grafite goals: he is on fire!

On Tuesday, 15 September, Grafite helped his side VfL Wolfsburg to a 3-1 win over CSKA Moskva by scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut. According to Infostrada Sports, Grafite is only the sixth player to score three or more goals in his first Champions League appearance.

Most goals by a player making his Champions League debut

Goals Player Nation Club Date

4 Marco van Basten NED AC Milan 25 Nov 1992

3 Faustino Asprilla COL Newcastle United 17 Sep 1997

3 Yakubu Aiyegbeni NGR Maccabi Haifa 24 Sep 2002

3 Wayne Rooney ENG Manchester United 28 Sep 2004

3 Vincenzo Iaquinta ITA Udinese 14 Sep 2005

3 Grafite BRA VfL Wolfsburg 15 Sep 2009

You are welcome: 2009/2010 Champions League to feature eight debutants

The 2009/2010 Champions League main competition will feature eight debutants, the largest number since the 1999/2000 season, which saw the competition expanded to the current number of 32 participants.

AZ, Rubin Kazan, Standard Liège, Unirea Urziceni, VfL Wolfsburg, FC Zürich, APOEL Nicosia and Debreceni VSC are all about to embark on their maiden Champions League campaign.

Accorindg to Infostrada Sports, the last newcomers to survive the group phase were Sevilla FC in 2007/2008. The last debutants to reach the final were Valencia CF in 1999/2000.

Best results Champions League debutants – by season

Season Clubs New Best debutant(s) Reached

2009/2010 32 8 AZ (NED), Rubin Kazan (RUS), Standard Liège (BEL), Unirea Urziceni (ROU), VfL Wolfsburg (GER), FC Zürich (SUI), APOEL Nicosia (CYP), Debreceni VSC (HUN) TBD

2008/2009 32 4 Anorthosis Famagusta (CYP), BATE Borisov (BLR), CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU), Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS) Group phase

2007/2008 32 2 Sevilla FC (ESP) Last 16

2006/2007 32 2 FC København (DEN), Levski Sofia (BUL) Group phase

2005/2006 32 5 Villarreal CF (ESP) Semi-finals

2004/2005 32 1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) Group phase

2003/2004 32 4 VfB Stuttgart (GER), Celta de Vigo (ESP), Real Sociedad (ESP) Last 16

2002/2003 32 3 FC Basel (SUI) Group phase 2

2001/2002 32 7 Liverpool (ENG) Quarter-finals

2000/2001 32 7 Leeds United (ENG) Semi-finals

1999/2000 32 11 Valencia CF (ESP) Runners-up

1998/1999 24 9 Internazionale (ITA), 1. FC Kaiserslautern (GER) Quarter-finals

1997/1998 24 10 Bayer Leverkusen (GER) Quarter-finals

1996/1997 16 5 AJ Auxerre (FRA), Atlético Madrid (ESP) Quarter-finals

1995/1996 16 11 Juventus (ITA) Winners

1994/1995 16 10 Ajax (NED) Winners

1993/1994 8 6 FC Barcelona (ESP) Runners-up

1992/1993 8 8 Olympique Marseille (FRA) Winners

Wolfsburg squad 2009/10 season: UEFA Champions League and Bundesliga 2009 - 2010

Here we have VfL Wolfsburg (Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH) official presentation during Summer 2009:

Back row (Left to right): Günter Kern (Fitness coach), Wolfhard Savoy (Physical therapist), Andreas Hilfiker (Keeper coach), Jan Simunek, Edin Dzeko, Alexander Madlung, Christian Gentner, Manfred Kroß (Masseur), Heribert Rüttger (Kit man), Jörg Drill (Masseur)

Third row (Left to right): Achim Sarstedt (Assistant coach), Alfons Higl (Assistant coach), Christian Zaccardo, Grafite, Andrea Barzagli, Caiuby, Rodrigo Alvim, Michele Putaro (Physical therapist), Ari Mohammad (Kit man)

Second row (Left to right): Wölfi (Mascot), Makoto Hasebe, Alexander Esswein, Ricardo Costa, Thomas Kahlenberg, Jonathan Santana, Zvjezdan Misimovic, Marcel Schäfer, Armin Veh (Head coach)

Front row (Left to right): Peter Pekarik, Sascha Riether, Andre Lenz, Diego Benaglio, Marvin Hitz, Sebastian Schindzielorz, Daniel Baier

Missing: Josué, Ashkan Dejagah, Daniel Adlung, Karim Ziani