Salah batters Lewandowski’s Champions League hat-trick feats
Mohamed Salah’s treble at Ibrox Stadium was the fastest in Champions League history, taking Robert Lewandowski’s record.
Mohamed Salah made a piece of Champions League history with his quickfire hat-trick in Liverpool’s 1-7 thrashing of Rangers on Wednesday, scoring the fastest ever treble in the competition. Just six minutes and 12 seconds separated Salah’s first and third goals in Liverpool’s comeback win, the shortest timeframe ever recorded in the Champions League.
Hottest hat-tricks in the Champions League
Salah’s hat-trick saw him eclipse the efforts of former Bayern Munich hero Robert Lewandowski, who has scored two of the five fastest trebles in the torunament. Lewandowski required 11 minutes and seven seconds to hit a treble against Red Star Belgrade in November 2019, an achievement he bettered against Salzburg in March this year, when he scored three times in 10 minutes and 22 seconds. Other than Salah, only Bafetimbi Gomis and Mike Newell have scored a hat-trick in quicker time than Lewandowski, while Cristiano Ronaldo sits just outside the top five after managing an 11-minute treble against Malmö for Real Madrid in 2015. Salah scored his hat-trick over two minutes faster than previous record holder Gomis, who took eight minutes and 45 seconds to do so against Dinamo Zagreb in 2011.
Salah brought up his treble with a trademark strike, latching onto Diogo Jota’s pass before cutting in from the right wing and bending a fine finish into the top-left corner. Jota assisted all three of Salah’s goals as Liverpool returned to form in emphatic fashion, which represents the first time a player has assisted a team-mate’s Champions League treble since March 2012, when Franck Ribéry teed up Mario Gómez’s strikes for Bayern against Basel.
Salah surpasses Drogba and Agüero
Meanwhile, Salah has now scored 38 Champions League goals for Liverpool, the most managed by any player for an English club in the competition. The Egyptian ace had previously trailed former Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero and Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, who each hit 36 goals for their respective clubs in the competition.