AC Milan inadvertently set a season high shot tally on Sunday evening during their 4-2 win over Catania, firing off 38 attempts as they twice had to come from behind to secure a crucial three points in their pursuit of a Champions League finish.
On average, it saw the Rossoneri fire away an effort in the direction of Alberto Frison every 2.36 minutes as Massimiliano Allegri's side continuously pressured the opposition goalkeeper over the course of the 90 minutes to pick up maximum points and leapfrog Fiorentina - who had overcome Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris that same afternoon - back into third place.
Of the 38 shots Milan had against Catania, 14 were on target, which saw the Rossoneri net a goal with every 3.5 efforts that looked destined for the back of the net, with three of their goals coming from the 74th minute onwards, in which time Giampaolo Pazzini netted twice before Mario Balotelli added another from the penalty spot.
The amount of shots Milan mustered wasn't much of a surprise to some considering they've fired away 567 attempts this season, Sunday's encounter included, with that figure placing them second behind Juventus (621) for the campaign.
Having scored 60 goals in Serie A this year, Milan have scored once every 9.94 attempts at goal. This sees them rank in a modest ninth place in terms of the best conversion rates in Italy's top tier this campaign, with Napoli currently leading the way, netting every 8.31 shots as a result of their 64 goals from 524 shots.
Furthermore, that impressive record comes as no surprise considering Napoli have the league's leading goalscorer in their ranks, with striker Edinson Cavani having netted 23 times this season.
Milan's staggering shot total in the encounter with Catania edged out Real Madrid from their first place podium in terms of shot total in a game in Europe's top 5 leagues this season, following their 37 efforts on goal during the 5-1 win over Levante at the beginning of April.
Los Blancos ran riot in a particularly one sided encounter at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Looking to test goalkeeper Gustavo Munua once every 2.43 minutes. Their 12 shots on target meant the Levante goalkeeper was called into action, on average, every 7 and a half minutes throughout the encounter, as Real scored with every 2.4 shots on target.
Interestingly, however, it was in a game that Cristiano Ronaldo didn't start. The Portugal international currently leads the way in the individual Primera Division shots table, peppering the opposition goal with 216 attempts this term, making up 34.67% of Real's 623 attempts. His is a tally that not only puts him 60 shots ahead of his nearest contender Lionel Messi, but also the rest of the players in Europe's top 5 leagues.
Nevertheless, despite coming on at half time in the encounter, the 28-year-old still mustered four attempts of the 37, or one every 11.25 minutes, netting once in the process, while three of his four shots were also on target. Jose Mourinho has seen his side fire their way to second across Europe in the total shots ranking, with Liverpool leading the way having mustered 676 goalscoring attempts this campaign.
It is therefore unsurprising to find that the Reds are responsible for the third highest shot tally in a 90 minute encounter over the season, doing so in their 5-0 rout of Swansea City in February. The win, coming a week ahead of the Swans' Capital One Cup final encounter with Bradford City, saw Michael Laudrup field a weakened side, and in turn came as no shock to voyeurs of the game.
Moreover, across Europe, Luis Suarez' shot tally is the second most - ahead of Messi - with the Uruguayan having attempted 187 efforts this season, 29 fewer than Ronaldo. It was no surprise, in that case, to have seen the 26-year-old look to test goalkeeper Michel Vorm with six of Liverpool's 35 shots in the win over the Swans, although only two of those six were on target, while teammate Daniel Sturridge boasted a better shot accuracy, hitting the target with four of his eights shots.
Yet, with the two fewer shots on goal in the game, it saw Liverpool's return of an effort every 2.57 minutes fall behind the aforementioned rates of AC Milan and Real Madrid, although their conversion rate was an improvement on the pairing. The Merseysiders netted a goal every seven attempts compared to the Italian's 9.5 and the Spaniard's 7.4.
Falling just one short of Liverpool's 35 attempts on goal is Tottenham Hotspur, whose 34 shots during their 3-1 New Years Day win over Reading sees them rank fourth across Europe's top five leagues for shots on goal in a game this season.
However, having netted just three times, the north London side fall behind their European counterparts in terms of chance conversion, having scored with every 11.3 efforts on goal, further highlighting their lack of attacking prowess this season, in which they've netted the fewest goals (60) of the Premier League top five.
The poor goal-to-game return from Spurs this season has regularly been noted by supporters, with Jermain Defoe's conversion rate (10.4%) only slightly better than that of Emmanuel Adebayor (9.7%). In turn, the poor return during the Reading win from the striking duo wasn't a surprise, with the former attempting seven efforts during his time on the pitch and scoring none and the latter three, netting once.
Completing the top five is Newcastle United in their 2-1 defeat to Swansea back in November. Alan Pardew's side had 32 attempts on goal during the loss, but failed to hit the back of the net until the 90th minute, courtesy of Demba Ba.
For a team that mustered a shot every 3.21 minutes, not to score until added time represents a dismal conversion rate and it's no surprise that of the 503 shots Newcastle have taken this season, they've only scored 43 goals; finding the net with just 8.54% of their efforts.
In comparison, Liverpool have scored with 9.91% of their shots and Spurs 9.98%, while AC Milan and Real Madrid have respective conversion rates of 10.58% and 13.64%.
That three Premier League teams rank amongst the top 5 for shot tallies in a match this season comes as no real shock considering that England's top tier leads the way for shots this season (9589) when compared to Europe's top five leagues.
The 101 shots taken over those three Premier League games accounts for 1.05% of that total figure over just 270 minutes of football, with the average figure sitting at 27.63 shots per game between the sides in England's top flight, again the highest in Europe.
