Cristiano Ronaldo may lead the race to become the first player to score 100 UEFA Champions League goals, but when it comes to hat-tricks in Europe’s premier club competition he has ground to make up. Lionel Messi has already hit two in the UEFA Champions League this season, taking his tally to seven – two more than nearest rival Ronaldo. UEFA.com delves deep into match ball-earning performances.
Most UEFA Champions League hat-tricks
7 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
3= Mario Gomez (Bayern)
3= Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus, AC Milan)
3= Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar)
Messi’s hat-tricks
1. Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal, 6 April 2010*
2. Plzeň 0-4 Barcelona, 1 November 2011
3. Barcelona 7-1 Leverkusen, 7 March 2012**
4. Barcelona 4-0 Ajax, 18 September 2013
5. APOEL 0-4 Barcelona, 25 November 2014
6. Barcelona 7-0 Celtic, 13 September 2016
7. Barcelona 4-0 Manchester City, 19 October 2016
* scored four; ** scored five
Most hat-tricks in one season
3 Cristiano Ronaldo (2015/16)
2= Lionel Messi (2011/12, 2016/17)
2= Luiz Adriano (2014/15)
2= Mario Gómez (2011/12)
Other UEFA Champions League hat-trick records
- First hat-trick: Juul Ellerman for PSV v Žalgiris on 16 September 1992
- Youngest hat-trick scorer: Raúl González, 18 years and 114 days
- Oldest hat-trick scorer: Claudio Pizarro, 34 years and 34 days
- Quickest hat-trick: 8 minutes, Bafétimbi Gomis for Lyon v Dinamo Zagreb in 2011
- Only brothers to score hat-tricks: Filippo Inzaghi (3) Simone Inzaghi (1)
- Most hat-tricks in one season: 8 (2004/05, 2013/14)
- Hat-tricks by nationality: Brazil (13), Argentina (10), England, France, Italy (all 8)
- Hat-tricks by club: Barcelona (11), Real Madrid (9), Bayern (7), Manchester United (6)
- Most hat-tricks conceded: Anderlecht (5), Olympiacos (5), BATE (4)
- Hat-tricks for losing sides: Gareth Bale for Tottenham v Inter in 2010 and Ronaldo for Real Madrid v Manchester United in 2003. Both were 4-3 away losses.
- Different nationalities of players to have scored a hat-trick: 32
- Total hat-tricks: 107
- Never scored a hat-trick: Thomas Müller, Luis Suárez, Gabriel Batistuta, Hernán Crespo, Miroslav Klose, Patrick Kluivert, Francesco Totti, David Trezeguet, Christian Vieri, David Villa
When a hat-trick just isn’t enough
Eleven players have hit a UEFA Champions League ‘poker’, four goals in one game: Marco van Basten, Simone Inzaghi, Dado Pršo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andriy Shevchenko, Lionel Messi, Bafétimbi Gomis, Mario Gómez, Robert Lewandowski, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The record for most goals in a game is five, set by Messi against Leverkusen in 2012 and matched by Luiz Adriano for Shakhtar against BATE Borisov two years later.
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