Nissan scientifically proves the UEFA Champions League's most exciting moments

Nissan - the official global automotive sponsor of the UEFA Champions League - and leading scientists have created a formula that officially proves the League's most exciting games, teams and players this season. The unique method - called the Nissan Excitement Index and created with scientists at Loughborough University - shows that FC Barcelona is officially the most exciting football team in Europe.

FC Barcelona also features as part of the 'exciting eleven' team sheet from the tournament's group stage, with star striker Lionel Messi taking one of the places, alongside Juventus FC defender Dani Alves and Arsenal FC's Mesut Ozil. The Nissan Excitement Index also ranked the 12-goal thriller in November, between FC Borussia Dortmund and Legia Warsaw, as the 'most exciting game of the tournament' so far.

In order to develop the Nissan Excitement Index, Nissan and Loughborough University analysed data from 'live experiments' on football fans at UEFA Champions League matches, culminating in the creation of a scientific formula to determine the most exciting moments according to science. The Nissan Excitement Index scientific formula calculates an excitement score based on match statistics, including goals scored (and when), involvement of star players, bookings and fan attendance.