Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the ninth player in Champions League history to score four goals in one match, helping PSG get an impressive 5-0 win over Anderlecht, scoring 4 times in the span of 40 minutes.
Messi, unlike his fellow scorers on this list, is the only player to achieve this twice – first with four goals against Arsenal and then by setting a new competition record, finding the net five times as Barcelona demolished Leverkusen.
Marco Van Basten, AC Milan vs IFK Goteborg
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The greatest striker of the time during the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s with the best club of the era playing one of the final matches of his career before an injury ended his career before the age of 30. Van Basten also scored one of his more famous goal in a bicycle kick, beating Thomas Ravelli in the 4-0 win.
Simone Inzaghi, Lazio vs Marseille
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An unremarkable Italian striker that will eventually be remembered for being the younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi and his Hot, Hot Wife. Inzaghi put his name in Champions League history books back in 2000 with four goals for Lazio against Marseille.
Dado Prso, Monaco vs Deportivo La Coruna
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A one hit wonder of Champions League and Croatian football, peaking with a four goal performance on his 30th birthday as Monaco Demolished Deportivo 8-3 in the most stunning year of Champions League football. Will 2012 be a repeat?
Ruud van Nistelrooy, Manchester United vs Sparta Prague
The Dutch striker netted four in a 4-1 win over Prague in a 4-1 win back in 2004, which unfortunately is very hard to track down around the web. We managed to find the penalty goal van Nistelrooy scored, so that’s at least something. He’s playing for Malaga these days, scoring only goal in 12 matches so far this season.
Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan vs Fenerbahce
Six months after missing a penalty against Dudek in the crushing penalties loss to Liverpool in Istanbul, Shevchenko partied against Fenerbahce in the same city as Milan won 4-0.
Lionel Messi, Barcelona vs Arsenal
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Lionel Messi single handily, or two-footedily, destroyed Arsenal in the second leg of their Champions League quarter finals clash. Bendtner stunned the Nou Camp with the opening goal, but Lionel Messi gave one of his more famous and sublime performances. Inter and Mourinho knocked off Barca in the Semis.
On March 7, Messi became the first (and only player so far) to score five goals in a single match in the Champions League, as Barcelona destroyed Leverkusen 7-1 in the second leg of the knockout stage, winning 10-2 on aggregate.
Bafetimbi Gomis, Lyon
Bafetimbi Gomis becams the seventh player to score four goals in one Champions league match, although his achievement in shrouded with suspicion. The way Dinamo Zagreb fell apart, the six goals scored in 28 minutes while what happened with Ajax a few hundred miles away from there has to raise more than a few doubt about the legality of it all.
Robert Lewandowski, Borussia Dortmund
The Polish striker tore through the Real Madrid defense on his own in the first leg of the 2013 Champions League semifinal, scoring once during the first half before completely erupting in the second in a show of poise, balance and power, finishing with a fourth goal thanks to a sketchy penalty, in what might be his final home match for Dortmund in the Champions League.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSG
Ibrahimovic showed his incredible goalscoring skills in the span of only 40 minutes in the third group stage match of the 2013-2014 season, scoring four times against Anderlecht in Belgium. While his first goal was a simple tap in, the second one came with cheeky heel. The fourth was another pretty one with some neat control and finishing. The fourth was simply perfect, scoring with a trademark powerful shot from 25 meters.
One response to “The Champions League Four Goals Club”
[…] against Arsenal. He has scored five goals in one match against Bayer Leverkusen. The only player with two four-goal performances in the competition, and the only player with a five-goal match in the Champions League. Pretty soon, he’ll be […]