Real Madrid needed to preserve the lead they had established a week earlier in England to send Manchester City packing and secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. The Spanish side did so with ease, as Kylian Mbappe netted a stunning hat-trick in a 3-1 victory. The French forward delivered a magical performance at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, drawing comparisons to the remarkable hat-tricks previously scored by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mbappe took charge for Real Madrid, scoring the opener just 4 minutes into the match with a delicate shot over Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson. Midway through the first half, he doubled the lead following a brilliant team move. Finally, 16 minutes into the second half, Kylian completed his hat-trick with a composed left-footed strike.
This marked Mbappe’s third career hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League and his first with Real Madrid in the competition. His previous two came during his time at Paris Saint-Germain: a 5-0 victory over Club Brugge in 2019 and a 4-1 win against Barcelona in 2021.
However, the French star is still some way off matching the records set by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who hold the mark for the most hat-tricks in Champions League history, with 8 each.
Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal for FC Barcelona
Lionel Messi’s hat-tricks in the Champions League
Messi made his Champions League debut in 2004, but it wasn’t until April 2010 that he scored his first-ever hat-trick in the competition, in a 4-1 win over Arsenal at the Camp Nou. From that point, the Argentine star would go on to add one hat-trick per year from 2011 to 2014, scoring against Viktoria Plzen, Bayer Leverkusen, Ajax, and APOEL.
see also
Mbappe scores for Real Madrid after 4′: What was Messi and Ronaldo’s fastest Champions League goal?
After a rare drought in 2015, Messi bounced back with a hat-trick in 2016 against Celtic, followed by another against Manchester City in the same year. His last Champions League hat-trick came in 2018, when he scored three times against PSV Eindhoven.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-tricks in the Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first hat-trick in the Champions League came in 2012, nearly a decade after his competition debut. The Portuguese forward had never scored a hat-trick during his time with Manchester United, and did it for the first time at Real Madrid against Ajax in 2012. He would go on to score additional hat-tricks in the competition, notably in 2013 against Galatasaray, in 2015 against Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmo FF, and again in 2016 against Wolfsburg.
Ronaldo’s final two Champions League hat-tricks with the Spanish side came in 2017, when he scored against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. The last time CR7 netted three goals in a single game in the competition was in 2019, while playing for Juventus, again against Atlético Madrid.
The Champions League hat-trick rankings
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo sit at the top of the list, with eight Champions League hat-tricks each. Following them is Robert Lewandowski, who has scored six hat-tricks in the tournament while playing for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona.
Karim Benzema is next with four, all of which came during his time as a Real Madrid player. A host of other players have scored three hat-tricks, including Filippo Inzaghi, Mario Gomez, Luiz Adriano, Neymar, and now Kylian Mbappe as well.
