Robert Lewandowski’s first-half hat-trick against Red Bull Salzburg broke a long-standing Champions League record.
Lewandowski completed his hat-trick in the 23rd minute of the game, the earliest hat-trick scored in a Champions League game since Marco Simone in 1996 (24 minutes), as per OptaJoe in the tweet below. Two of the Polish striker’s goals were from the penalty spot, but that certainly won’t bother the 33-year-old.
23 – Robert Lewandowski has completed a hat-trick within 23 minutes against FC RB Salzburg tonight; the earliest treble ever scored by a player in UEFA Champions League history from the start of a match, overtaking Marco Simone for Milan v Rosenborg in 1996 (24 mins). Snappy. pic.twitter.com/aVNNmGdgVV
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 8, 2022
Lewandowski also became this season’s Champions League top goalscorer, overtaking Sebastian Haller with his twelfth goal in the competition. Ajax are still in this year’s Champions League, so the race for the golden boot is going to be an interesting one.
Mohamed Salah is the closest in attempts to rival the top two, sat in third with eight goals. Last season, it only took ten goals from Erling Haaland to top the goalscoring charts, so Haller and Lewandowski both managing double figures is a fantastic achievement for the pair. This is especially considering they could both still play multiple games in the competition.