Consecutive hat-tricks in UCL- Karim Benzema joins elite club of Messi and Ronaldo!
Karim Benzema continued his rich vein of form as he scored a hat-trick against Chelsea to fire Real Madrid to a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final encounter. The French striker has been in incredible form in the continental competition and has scored two consecutive hat-tricks in the space of just 76 minutes.
His first one came against PSG at the Santiago Bernabeu which helped Real Madrid overturn a 2-0 deficit and win the Round of 16 tie 3-2 on aggregate.Benzema not only scored ahat-trick but actually changed the complexion of the match. Madrid had looked to be staring down the barrell when Benzema showed his opportunistic nature forced PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma into making an error. Riding on the confidence from that goal, Benzema scored two more brilliant goals before PSG even knew what hit them.
On Thursday, Benzema was at his supreme best once again. The two stunning headers in the first half set the tone of the match and put Chelsea on the backfoot from which they could not recover. The third was a reward for his perseverance that forced an error from an opponent goalkeeper, this time Edouard Mendy. Mendy's feeble pass toward Antonio Rudiger was intercepted by Benzema who then rolled the ball into a gaping net. This hat-trick was special as no player had scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in Europe, until now.
With this, he also joins an elite list of players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Adrian Luiz who have scored consecutive hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League.
Who all have scored consecutive hat-tricks in the Champions League?
Player | Date | Fixture | Tournament Stage | Time of Goals | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Luiz Adriano | October 21, 2014 | BATE Borisov vs Shakhtar Donetsk | Group Stage | 28'(p), 36', 40', 44', 82'(p) | 0-7 |
Luiz Adriano | November 5, 2014 | Shakhtar Donetsk vs BATE Borisov | Group Stage | 58'(p), 83', 90+3' | 5-0 |
Lionel Messi | September 13, 2016 | Barcelona vs Celtic | Group Stage | 3', 27', 60' | 7-0 |
Lionel Messi | October 19, 2016 | Barcelona vs Manchester City | Group Stage | 17', 61', 69' | 4-0 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | April 18, 2017 | Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich | Quarter-Final | 76', 105', 110' | 4-2 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | May 2, 2017 | Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid | Semi-Final | 10', 73', 86' | 3-0 |
Karim Benzema | March 9, 2022 | Real Madrid vs PSG | Round of 16 | 61', 76', 78' | 3-1 |
Karim Benzema | April 7, 2022 | Chelsea vs Real Madrid | Quarter-Final | 21', 24', 46' | 3-1 |