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Ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final in Milan on Saturday 28th May, Nissan – the Official Global Automotive Sponsor of the UEFA Champions League – has revealed the most exciting moments and players of the tournament so far.

 

Throughout the campaign, Nissan, in partnership with sports science experts Loughborough University have used the Nissan Excitement Index to analyse data gathered through ‘live experiments’ on football fans at UEFA Champions League Matches, culminating in the creation of a scientific formula to determine how exciting games’ moments, teams and players have been throughout the tournament.

 

Data analysis of fans’ physiological responses to matches, such as percentage increase in heart rate, breathing rate and electro-dermal activity, has revealed the top five moments of this season’s ‘live experiments’ in the UEFA Champions League.

 

The most exciting moment is courtesy of FC Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller, who equalised against Juventus F.C. in their Round of 16 match to tie the game 2-2 and take it into extra time:

 

Rank

% increase in Heart Rate

 

Event

1

44.8

FC Bayern Munich’s second and equalising goal  (vs. Juventus F.C.)

2

42.6

Paris Saint-Germain’s first goal (vs. Chelsea FC)

3

35.7

Real Madrid C.F.’s Second and equalising goal (vs. VfL Wolfsburg)

4

31.5

Chelsea FC’s first and equalising goal (vs. Paris Saint-Germain @ Parc des Princes)

5

31.5

Paris Saint-Germain’s winning goal (vs. Chelsea FC)

 

Looking ahead to the all-Madrid UEFA Champions League Final, Nissan and Loughborough University have also revealed the ‘Exciting Eleven’ Madrid XI – a combination of both Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid C.F. squads using players’ excitement scores that were generated throughout the tournament using Opta statistics:

 

Position 

Player

GK

Keylor Navas

DF

Daniel Carvajal

DF

Diego Godín

DF

Danilo

DF

Filipe Luis

MF

Koke

MF

Gabi

MF

Casemiro

A

Antoine Griezmann

A

Cristiano Ronaldo

A

Gareth Bale

 

In addition to the Exciting Eleven Nissan have created a top ten list of the most exciting players in the UEFA Champions League this season according to Opta statistics.

 

Topping the list is Real Madrid C.F.’s Cristiano Ronaldo, also top scorer in the UEFA Champions League, followed by FC Barcelona’s Neymar Jr. 

 

Perhaps surprisingly, FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi comes in fourth, behind FC Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Hulk. This is despite a Nissan* survey that found Europeans rate the Barcelona striker as the most exciting football player to watch.

 

Rank

Player

Club

1

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid C.F.

2

Neymar Jr

FC Barcelona

3

Hulk

Zenit Saint Petersburg

4

Lionel Messi

FC Barcelona

5

Alexis Sanchez

Arsenal FC

6

Luis Suarez

FC Barcelona

7

Antoine Griezmann

Atlético Madrid

8

William

Chelsea FC

9

Javier Hernandez

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

10

Nicolas Gaitan

S.L. Benfica

 

Jean-Pierre Diernaz, Vice President for Marketing at Nissan Europe: “Throughout this year’s UEFA Champions League we have made sure excitement has been at the heart of everything we have done for football fans.

 

“As soon as our survey revealed that Europeans saw football as more exciting than sex, we knew we had to explore why, and that’s where the Excitement Index was born.

 

“Now the programme will culminate in Milan, with two of the most exciting teams in world football going head to head.

 

“We will reach the climax of our second season as UEFA partner, but it marks the start of our ambition to explore excitement further, whether that’s through the effects of our cars or through our other partnerships in the world of sport. Watch this space.”