LALIGA SANTANDER
Is Karim Benzema’s hat-trick against Real Valladolid the fastest in LaLiga and Real Madrid history?
Benzema took only six minutes and 30 seconds to score three times in the clash at Santiago Bernabéu.
It’s hard to score a hat-trick in professional soccer. Having not played a single second of it, I assume so at least. Which makes the fact that Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema managed it in only six minutes and 30 seconds in his team’s 6-0 thrashing of Real Valladolid on Sunday all the more impressive.
The Frenchman first stooped to head in Vinícius Júnior’s left-wing cross from close range, then collected the Brazilian’s layoff and superbly found the corner from just outside the box before acrobatically volleying in a Rodrygo delivery from the right flank to complete his quick-fire treble.
Six-and-a-half minutes. There are songs that are shorter than that. The timing of it has us all frantically searching to see which records Benzema had broken. Surely this must be the fastest hat-trick in LaLiga history? Or at least in Real Madrid’s? Neither or those are true, however, and the statistics doing the rounds after Benzema’s feat on Sunday tend to play it down rather than up.
Who has scored the fastest hat-trick in Real Madrid’s history?
The Ballon d’Or winners’ three-goal haul is only the third-fastest for Los Blancos, according to Spanish soccer statistician Mister Chip, who regularly dazzles with his figures and facts on Twitter. Fernando Hierro, who played as defender/defensive midfielder for the club between 1989 and 2003, netted three times in six minutes against Espanyol in 1992 and is second on the list behind the late Pahiño, who three goals against Gimnàstic de Tarragona all the way back in 1950 came in “four minutes” (the exact timing doesn’t appear to be known).
Who has scored the fastest hat-trick in LaLiga history?
LaLiga records, meanwhile, show that the fast hat-trick scored in the league’s history came from Brazilian World Cup-winner striker Bebeto, who found the net on three occasions in precisely four minutes and 43 seconds for Deportivo La Coruña against Albacete in October 1995 (we can only assume that Pahiño’s was slightly more). The baby cradling striker would go on to score a fourth goal just a few minutes later, just to make his achievement even more emphatic.
If you’re too young to remember that one, though, then perhaps you will recall another recent treble which also eclipses Benzema’s. On 18 February 2017, Atlético Madrid’s Kevin Gameiro only just failed to beat Bebeto’s record, with his hat-trick against Sporting de Gijón coming in four minutes and 45 seconds, nearly two minutes quicker than the Real Madrid striker.
Karim, what were you waiting for?