5 players with most hat-tricks in UEFA Champions League history
The Champions League returned with a bang yesterday as European heavyweights resumed their intense battle in the prestigious tournament. With a total of 16 goals recorded from eight fixtures, it wouldn't be far-fetched to say the goalscorers ran the show.
Scoring a goal in the Champions League is indeed an incredible feat for many players. But it is no big deal to some superstars who have enjoyed prolific outings in the tournament for several years.
Players who belong in this category usually set a target for themselves to score as many goals as possible in every game. That has inspired them to bag three or more goals in single games in the European competition and enter the record books as a result.
Although it's quite a big task, some of these superstars have done that on multiple occasions in their careers. To honor them, we decided to compile a list of five players with the most hat-tricks in Champions League history. They are as follows:
#5 Neymar (3 UCL hat-tricks)
The Brazilian bagged his first Champions League hat-trick for Barcelona in a 6-1 triumph over Celtic on December 11, 2013. Ever since then, he's enjoyed prolific outings in Europe and has added two more to his name.
🇧🇷 Neymar has now scored 3 Champions League hat-tricks in his career ⚽️⚽️⚽️
#UCL https://t.co/AjqniVZqeB
Neymar's second UCL hat-trick was scored for Paris Saint-Germain against Red Star Belgrade on October 3, 2018. He also bagged another one for the Ligue 1 giants as they crushed İstanbul Basaksehir in the group stage last year. This season presents him with a chance to add more to his tally.
#4 Luiz Adriano (3 UCL hat-tricks)
Despite not being as famous as the other players on this list, Brazilian forward Luiz Adriano has some incredible Champions League records to his name. The attacker has scored the highest number of goals in a single Champions League game (5), a record he shares with Lionel Messi.
Happy 31st birthday to Luiz Adriano. 🇧🇷
• First player to score back-to-back Champions League hat-tricks
• Second player to score five goals in a single Champions League game
Lionel Messi is the only other player to have done *both*. 👏 https://t.co/47rQ6ij3J5
Adriano is also the first footballer to score back-to-back hat-tricks in the European tournament. The striker has a total record of three Champions League hat-tricks in his career, all scored during his time with Shakhtar Donetsk.
He bagged the first one against Nordsjælland on November 20, 2012. He then shocked the football world by scoring back-to-back hat-tricks versus BATE Borisov in 2014. It is unlikely we'll see the attacker participate in a UCL game anymore. He left Europe in 2019 to return to the Brazilian league, where he signed a four-year deal with Palmeiras.
(Note: Filippo Inzaghi and Mario Gomez also scored three Champions League hat-tricks but are both retired)