At 18 years and 301 days, the Brazilian has now become the second-youngest footballer to score a hat-trick in UEFA Champions League after scoring three in Real Madrid’s 6-0 rout over Galatasaray at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday. Rodrygo trails another Madrid legend Raul, who achieved the feat at 18 years and 113 days.
🏁 FT: @realmadriden 6-0 @Galatasaray
⚽ @RodrygoGoes 4′, 7′, 90’+2′ @SergioRamos 14′ (p), @Benzema 45′, 81′#RMUCL | #Emirates pic.twitter.com/5znqRDhbJY— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 6, 2019
The young Brazilian opened the scoring in only the fourth minute when Marcelo dug a cross for him from the left flank. The forward put a sublime left touch to place it into the bottom-left corner of the Galatasaray net.
Rodrygo followed it up with another one just three minutes later when he put in another Marcelo delivery, this time with the head though. In another seven minutes, the hosts were ahead by 3-0 as Sergio Ramos converted a penalty.
For the Turkish visitors, the rest of the playing time seemed nothing but regulation. However, the home team were up for a treat and extended their lead to 4-0 right on the verge of the break. Karim Benzema guided a Rodrygo cross into the back of the net and the home side danced their way to the tunnel at the half time.
The next half saw Madrid continuing its dominance and creating a plethora of chances inside their opponent’s box. The only thing positive for Galatasaray in the second half was that they held their hosts till the 81st minute for another goal.
Benzema was on the scoresheet again as he tapped in a cross from Carvajal with ease. The last goal of the match came in the stoppage time when Rodrygo played a one-two with Benzema before striking a low shot to complete his hat-trick.
After losing to PSG 3-0 in the opening match and being held by Club Brugge in the first home match, Real Madrid seemed to have raised their ante and put their campaign right back on track. With two wins on the trot, the 13-time Champions League winner now sit comfortably in the second place in Group A, behind PSG.
In the other game of the group, Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge played a low-key affair. The match was expected to be a feast for the Parisian side, especially after their 5-0 onslaught in the first-leg. However, the Belgian side displayed good defensive football to make their hosts fight for every inch.
🔵🔴 Mauro Icardi has scored 8 goals in his first 10 #UCL games 😱 pic.twitter.com/zFAd0h8eXh
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 6, 2019
The only goal of the match was scored by PSG’s Argentine forward Mauro Icardi. Right-back Colin Dagba produced a low cross from the wing and found Icardi after taking a slight deflection off a Brugge defender. The striker made no mistake and netted the ball from a close range.