For a player boasting 28 trophies in European football, including league titles in France and Italy, as well as Champions League success with Chelsea, it's somewhat surprising Thiago Silva's big breakthrough on the continent did not arrive until he was 25.
After failing to make the grade at Porto, and contemplating walking away from the game entirely during a spell on loan with Dynamo Moscow, a successful return to Brazil with Fluminense ultimately led to a move to Milan and the rest, as they say, is history.
San Siro proved more than just a springboard into a trophy-laden spell in European football for Silva, and it is the ground where he is expected to make his 100th Champions League appearance on Tuesday with Chelsea, the eighth – and possibly final – club of his career.
Should that be the case, he will become only the fifth Brazilian in history to reach that milestone in the competition after Roberto Carlos (120), Dani Alves (111), Fernandinho (103) and Marcelo (102).
Despite now being 38, you would not bet against the veteran centre-back going on to break Roberto Carlos' record – although for that to happen, he would have to spend at least one more campaign at Stamford Bridge or another Champions League-level club.
On the basis of his first two-and-a-bit campaigns at Chelsea, and the fact the club have already extended his stay twice, there is every chance Silva could yet see out his career in London.
Ahead of what may be a landmark occasion for the Brazilian against his former club, Stats Perform looks back at his career to date – particularly in UEFA's primary club competition – and highlights just why he is still such an important figure both on and off the pitch.
SILVA DRIVEN BY SELECAO SELECTION
Silva made it clear when joining Chelsea in August 2020, on the back of his Paris Saint-Germain contract expiring, that still being in contention for Brazil for the 2022 World Cup was his long-term motivation to remain at the very top.
"As I've said before, the prospect of playing at the next World Cup is another thing that really drives me," he said at the time. "I'll be 38 years old by the time of the next World Cup and I'm hugely motivated to be in good shape for it.
"The work that I'm putting in to make this a reality already started a while back and now Chelsea have given me a great opportunity to continue playing at the highest level of the game."
Far from being a bit-part player, the 5,219 minutes Silva has played in the Premier League since his arrival is the second most of any outfielder for the club, behind only Mason Mount (6,345).
The departure of Thomas Tuchel, whom he worked with at PSG, and arrival of Graham Potter has not lessened his workload, either, as he has started nine of Chelsea's 11 matches in all competitions this term.
One of the games he missed was Saturday's 3-0 win over Wolves because of illness, but he has since returned to training and is part of Chelsea's travelling squad for the trip to Milan.
Indeed, Silva played in last week's reverse fixture with the Rossoneri – also a 3-0 win – despite being under the weather. Not that it showed, with the centre-back not only helping his side to a clean sheet but also leading the way for shots (three) and shots on target (two) as he made himself a nuisance in the Milan box.
Incredibly, only winger Raheem Sterling (seven) had more touches in the opposition box than Silva's three. Thirty-eight he may be, but Silva is still having an impact for Chelsea at both ends of the field – and almost certainly will with Brazil in Qatar.
THIAGO'S TIME TO ADAPT
Defending is the priority for Silva, of course, and he has adapted his game in that regard during his time at Chelsea. While the sample size for this season's Champions League (two matches) is far too small to come to any sort of conclusions, last season's statistics provide plenty of insight.
Silva cleared the ball 1.7 times per 90 minutes across his nine Champions League outings in the 2021-22 campaign, which was by far the lowest amount of any of his 13 seasons in the competition up to that point. The next lowest came in 2014-15, at PSG, when clearing the ball 3.1 times on average.
By extension, his number of headed clearances was also at a low last season, down from 2.4 per game in his final campaign in the French capital to 1.0 last term. His 0.8 tackles per 90 minutes, meanwhile, was also the lowest he has registered in the Champions League.
This does not mean Silva was necessarily defending less, just that he was operating – under the instructions of Tuchel at the time – in a different way. He was also playing a bigger part in the build-up play, with his 67.9 successful passes per 90 minutes a tally he has only personally bettered once in his career (75.8 in the 2018-19 season).
Incidentally, it was in Silva's first season at the Parc des Princes that he registered his lowest passes completed (37.9 per game) figures. Over the past decade, his game has had to change considerably. And yet here he is, still thriving at 38.
"A HUMILITY TO JUST DO THE JOB"
Whether at Milan, PSG or Chelsea, clubs that are accustomed to regular squad overhauls, Silva has very much been a mainstay of the backline, as highlighted by those 99 previous appearances in the competition, 60 of which came during his eight seasons at the Parc des Princes.
Silva never lifted the famous trophy with PSG, however, the closest he came to doing so being the 2019-20 season when losing to Bayern Munich in the final. Nine months later, he was holding it aloft as part of Chelsea's victorious side in Porto, another city where he previously plied his trade.
Should he do so again this campaign, he will become the second-oldest player to win the competition after Paolo Maldini with Milan in 2007, a true sign of his longevity at the top of the game.
On the day he is welcomed into the Champions League's Centurion Club, Silva has another opportunity to show against one of his former sides that age is very much just a number, as he has done throughout his time with Chelsea.
"He was outstanding," Potter said on the back on last week's win against Milan. "He's 38 years old, 38 years young, and when he's playing like that, he's an impressive person. He's a character, a proper guy who's got a fantastic experience but has a humility to just do the job.
"He's competing in the Champions League and the Premier League – you don't get that by thinking about [the World Cup]. You get it by being in the moment. It's how he prepares, recovers, rests and focuses."
Add hunger to that list, too. A hunger to fight back from a life-threatening illness early on in a career that was going nowhere fast; a hunger to remain on top of his game and adjust his style in his 21st season as a footballer; a hunger to captain his national side at the biggest tournament of them all at the age of 38.
While his career may still have a bit of time to run yet, occasions like Tuesday in Milan offer a reminder that we should continue to enjoy Thiago Silva while we can.
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
'It's time for a magical night at home,' says Vinicius ahead of Bayern Munich second leg
Vinicius Junior is eyeing "a magical night at home" when Real Madrid welcome Bayern Munich for their Champions League semi-final second leg next week.
The two European heavyweights shared a 2-2 draw in a pulsating first leg at the Allianz Arena, setting up a grandstand climax when the battle resumes at Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius opened the scoring in the 24th minute, but Madrid found themselves 2-1 behind in the second half after Leroy Sane levelled and Harry Kane slotted home from the penalty spot.
However, the Brazil international was also on target from the penalty spot to ensure a share of the spoils with his 31st direct goal involvement in the Champions League since the start of the 2021-22 season - more than any other player in that time.
"We always want to win, but we know that this competition is like that, you can't give away balls because teams score the chances they have," he said, as reported by Reuters.
"We have to keep our heads calm, rest until next week, and we know that we and the fans are going to leave everything at the Santiago Bernabeu to qualify.
"Now it's time for a magical night at home to win and secure our place in the final."
Vinicius' first goal saw him calmly slide home from Toni Kroos' delicious throughball, with the latter playing 15 line-breaking passes in the first half - at least 10 more than any other player on the pitch.
Rodrygo, who was fouled by Kim Min-jae for the penalty that led to Madrid's second goal, paid tribute to the 34-year-old.
"We all keep telling him to keep on playing for not just one more season, but many seasons to come yet," he told Movistar. "He's genuinely a maestro with talent which people love to watch, and we all love to play with.
"If we couldn't win, we were determined not to lose. Given what went on, a draw's a good result. We know the Champions League. We're accustomed to matches like this.
"I believe that teams think they've killed us off, and that's when we are at our most dangerous."
Champions League success does not define Bayern move, says Kane
Harry Kane refuted suggestions Champions League glory this season will decide the success of his Bayern Munich move, after Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the semi-final first leg.
Kane scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 to Bayern early in the second half, just four minutes after Leroy Sane had levelled with a thunderous finish at Allianz Arena.
Having finished with his usual ease from 12 yards, Kane became the first English player to be directly involved in 11 goals in a single Champions League campaign.
Kane is the joint-top scorer across Europe's big five leagues in all competitions this season (43 – level with Kylian Mbappe), while the England captain now has the most combined goals and assists of any player (54 – 43 goals and 11 assists).
Regardless of whether Bayern can overcome Madrid in the second leg next week and go all the way in the final, Kane insists his move to Germany is a long-term mission, rather than a one-year aim for success.
When asked on TNT Sports if winning the Champions League would define his Bayern move as a success, Kane responded: "I don't think so.
"I'm here for many years, it's not just a one-off year that I've come for. Of course, the expectation at the start of the year was to win trophies and it hasn't gone our way in the Bundesliga or the cup, but the Champions League is the biggest one of them all.
"If we can somehow get our hands on that one, it'll be an amazing season, but there is a long way to go.
"These are the big games under the lights [that I'm here for]. The atmosphere was incredible. I'm sure at the Bernabeu it'll be the same. It's exactly why I’ve come, I wanted to play in these big games, these big moments, and it's no bigger than next week.
"It'll be tough, we know their history in the competition, but we can take a lot of positives from today. There's a couple of small details that we need to get right because we can get punished in a couple of quick moments, but we can take a lot from this game."
Kane now has 401 goals for club and country, having moved past the quadruple-century mark with his double against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Including his well-taken penalty against Madrid, the former Tottenham striker now has a personal-best 43 goals in all competitions this season as well.
Yet his focus remains solely on the next game, with Stuttgart to come on Saturday before the return visit to Madrid.
"It's been a good season [personally] so far, but it's always about the next game, the next big game, and it's next week, away from home against Real Madrid," he added.
"Everything we're fighting for this year is in this competition, so we've got to find a way to get it done. It's going to be tough, the Bernabeu, Real Madrid in the Champions League, but we go there with full belief, it's 0-0 and we go there for the win."
Kane's second-half strike on Tuesday came after Sane had cancelled out an opener from Vinicius Junior, whose late penalty then ensured the shares were spoiled at Allianz Arena.
With the pressure on Bayern's spot-kick, Madrid's Jude Bellingham appeared to offer Kane a few words of advice – though the Bayern striker was in his own space preparing to face Andriy Lunin.
"I don't know what he was saying," Kane added on his England team-mate's quiet word. "I saw him there, mumbling something, but I'll have to ask him what he said.
"Once I'm in that zone I'm just trying to block everything out – I'm sure he was saying something to try and put me off. Thankfully it didn't do anything."
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