As in the premier class
© Imago
Marko Arnautovic (36) has already done it again: His goal for the 1-1 for Red Star against Celtic on Wednesday evening was his first in the Europa League since February 19, 2009. At that time it was still the UEFA Cup and the ÖFB team player in Marseille at the age of 19 in the starting eleven of the FC Twente. There are 6,061 days or 16 years, seven months and two days between the two goals. The distance is now a double record holder in the Europa League Record and Arnautovic after he had already succeeded in the Champions League last season.
With the well over 16 years, Arnautovic even has a clear lead. Previously, the former Argentine top defender Walter Samuel at the age of 15, two months and eleven days between goals for AS Roma in December 2000 and FC Basel was ahead in February 2016. Elsewhere, Alessandro Del Piero is mentioned as a second place behind Arnautovic, according to a selection of the transfer market database, the Juventus legend scored a goal between 2010 and 1995 in the 1st round of 1999/00 against Omonia Nikosia.
Outside of the TOP-10, Robert Lewandowski (goals for BVB 2010 and Barcelona 2023), Christian Hochstätter (goals for Gladbach 1984 and 1996), Michael Ballack (goals for Bayer Leverkusen 1999 and 2011) or Heiko Herrlich (goals for Bayer Leverkusen 1990 and BVB 2001) also some long-term Bundesliga professionals in segment over eleven years.
Arnautovic also holds record in Champions League
In the Champions League there are twelve years, eleven months and 22 days in the Champions League between Arnautovics for Inter Milan on November 29, 2023 and Werder Bremen on December 7, 2010. He replaced the former Russian top defender Sergey Ignashevich, who had met in 2003 for locomotive and then in 2015 for ZSKA Moscow in the premier class. At least eleven years each followed in the Champions League Javier Zanetti (1998 and 2010 for Inter), Paolo Maldini (1994 and 2005 for AC Milan), Steffen Iversen (1996 and 2007 for Rosenborg) and Pepe (2012 for Real Madrid, 2023 for Porto).
The fact that Arnautovic had to wait for so long in both competitions is logically justified that in the meantime he did not take part in them with Stoke City, West Ham United and in Shanghai – similar to Lewandowski in the Europa League.