Strange stats reign supreme as football returns to the continent

With a brief seasonal reprieve in the rearview, football returned to the continent this weekend with contests in the Bundesliga, La Liga, and Ligue 1 marking a busy fortnight.

During Sunday's come-from-behind victory over Real Sociedad, Lionel Messi snapped Gerd Muller's record for goals with one club with 366 tallies for Barcelona.

Related: Lionel Messi breaks Gerd Muller's 1-club scoring record in victory

Not all the data from the weekend was as straightforward and expected as Messi's, with Barcelona's first victory at Sociedad's Anoeta Stadium in a decade providing a glaring example of an unlikely standard.

With that in mind, here's a look at a dozen inconceivable and peculiar statistics from an eventful weekend in European football across Germany, France, and Spain:

Minus-1: With Sunday's 1-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, Nantes has now conceded 19 times and only scored 18 goals for a minus-1 differential despite sitting fifth in Ligue 1 under Claudio Ranieri.

1: Villarreal's shock win over Real Madrid on Saturday was the first time the Yellow Submarine has tasted victory at the Santiago Bernabeu in the league. Ever.

4: The four latest Bundesliga goals this season have all been scored at FC Koln's RheinEnergieStadion, with Simon Terodde's 94th-minute winner against Monchengladbach giving the last-placed side just its second league win.

5: Angers forward Karl Toko-Ekambi has scored the club's last five goals, with the Paris-born Cameroon international's latest during Sunday's 1-1 draw with Lyon.

8: RB Leipzig has won all eight league matches where future Liverpool standout Naby Keita has scored, including the 3-1 win over Schalke in a battle for second place.

10: No player has won more fouls in a Ligue 1 match in the last decade than the 10 Lyon attacker Nabil Fekir suffered Sunday against Angers at the Stade des Lumieres.

28: Real Madrid attempted 28 shots in the 1-0 loss to Villarreal, the highest number in a La Liga match this season.

408: Willian Jose's opener Sunday was the first goal Barcelona has conceded in 408 minutes of league play. The last to do so: Celta Vigo's Maxi Gomez.

3785: Bayern Munich forward Sandro Wagner set a club record for the longest gap between two appearances for the club after coming on late against Bayer Leverkusen.

6000: Wolfsburg's Renato Steffen became the 6000th player to appear in a Bundesliga match with a substitute's appearance Sunday versus Borussia Dortmund.

3 in 4: Surprise mid-table Ligue 1 outfit Dijon has had a player sent off in three of its last four matches after Papy Djilobodji was shown red for a daft two-footed challenge Saturday against Metz.

14 of 16: Hoffenheim has conceded 14 of its last 16 league goals in the second half after Werder Bremen's Theodor Gebre Selassie scored 18 minutes after the break Saturday.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)