The fastest hat trick in Champions League history has been scored by Mohamed Salah who came off the bench as Liverpool routed Rangers 7-1 at Ibrox on Wednesday.
Salah came on in the second half with his team leading 3-1 and proceeded to fire a stunning treble in just six minutes, 12 seconds to set a new benchmark in the competition.
Bafétimbi Gomis previously held the record from 2011 when he took eight minutes to complete his hat trick in a 7-1 win for Lyon against Dinamo Zagreb.
But the Egyptian smashed that time with his stunning feat, walking away with the match ball in Glasgow and putting the seal on a confidence-boosting win for Liverpool, which is in a strong position to advance to the round of 16.
With Manchester City to come in the Premier League on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp hopes the victory will be a turning point for his team after such an unconvincing start to the season.
“The goals we scored were exceptional,” he said. “It’s a night where things worked out for us. It changes the mood definitely, and that’s good. We all know who is coming on Sunday. That will be different, but it’s better to go in with the feeling from tonight.”
It had been a night when Roberto Firmino had looked like being the hero – scoring twice and setting up another for Darwin Nunez after Rangers had gone ahead in the first half.
But Salah ensured he would dominate the headlines with three wonderfully taken goals.
Klopp had opted to make changes with his team in total control after Nunez made it 3-1 in the 66th minute.
When Salah poked in a fourth for Liverpool from a tight angle in the 75th minute, it served notice of what was to come.
Five minutes later, he curled in another from the edge of the area and almost immediately completed his hat trick with another clinical strike.
Another substitute, Harvey Elliott, finished the scoring in the 87th.
Liverpool is second in Group A with nine points with two games left. Napoli leads with 12 points and advanced to the round of 16 by beating Ajax 4-2 earlier Wednesday. The Amsterdam club has three points, while winless Rangers have zero.
Article updated 9 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
