European football has emphatically returned to the free-scoring heights of its golden era. Pundits have pointed to a relentless surge in attacking productivity across recent seasons, and the current Champions League campaign has now delivered definitive statistical proof of the trend.

According to data compiled by Opta, the opening 45 fixtures of this season’s UEFA Champions League have yielded a staggering 187 goals. That translates to an extraordinary average of 4.2 goals per match—the highest scoring rate recorded in Europe's premier club competition since the fabled 1959–60 European Cup campaign, which finished on an identical 4.2 ratio.

That historic 1960 tournament famously culminated in the highest-scoring final of all time, as Real Madrid dismantled Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park courtesy of an Alfredo Di Stéfano hat-trick and a sensational four-goal haul from Ferenc Puskás. Unprecedented scorelines defined the entirety of that competition, not least the semi-finals, where Frankfurt swept past Rangers 12-4 on aggregate following emphatic 6-1 and 6-3 victories.