Top eight players with most hat-tricks in Champions League history

Robert Lewandowski notably has UCL hattricks with three different clubs

Listening to the UEFA Champions League anthem on the pitch while being in the starting lineup of a club is a dream every other kid into football has. Few go on to realise the dream and many don't. And it is fair to say, that getting a chance to be even on the roster of clubs regularly participating in Champions League games in itself is tough. Competition is very high and very few make it to the limelight for a variety of reasons.

But among the dreamers, there are few players who go on to make further history in the game. Players who leave a lasting impression through their quality, be it defending, goalkeeping or even scoring goals.

Many players have experienced taking the Champions League match ball home. But few have done it on multiple occasions. In this article, we will have a look at the footballers with the most hat-tricks in Champions League history:

Neymar - 3 (Barcelona & Paris Saint-Germain)

From humble beginnings to riches, from getting recognised as a talent at six to becoming Brazil's national football team's all-time top scorer. A remarkable journey Neymar has covered. And in this journey, the player also recorded 3 Champions League hattricks. Once with FC Barcelona and the other two with Paris Saint-Germain. His match ball victims were Celtic FC, Red Star Belgrade and Istanbul Basaksehir.

Luiz Adriano - 3 (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Well, Neymar is not the only Brazilian capable of netting hattricks on multiple occasions. Luiz Adriano aged 36 now plays for Brazilian first-tier side Sport Club Internacional. While Adriano was on the payroll of Shakhtar Donetsk, he headlined three times for taking home the UCL match ball as a souvenir. His very first came against Denmark's FC Nordsjaelland. In 2014, Belarus club BATE Borisov couldn't do anything to stop Adriano in both home and away fixtures of Group H. The player netted two hattricks in the span of 15 days.

Mario Gomez - 3 (Bayern Munich)

VfB Stuttgart was the club where Mario Gomez started his first-team football club career and also ended. Germany's Mr Reliable last featured in the 2018 version of the FIFA World Cup. The forward has over 300 club goals while making 500 plus appearances. While with Bayern Munich from 2009 to 2013, he netted three hattricks in the Champions League games. Those hattricks were celebrated against CFR Cluj, Napoli and FC Basel in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Filippo Inzaghi - 3 (Juventus & AC Milan)

The former Italy national football team forward helped his country win a World Cup trophy in 2006. Filippo Inzaghi played for Juventus and AC Milan from 1997 to 2012. In the kits of The Old Lady, Inzaghi grabbed two match balls. The first one was against Dynamo Kyiv and later in September 2000 against Hamburger SV. His AC Milan career comparatively was more trophy-laden than at Juventus. But only could net a hattrick for the Rossoneri in 2002 against Spanish outfit Deportivo de La Coruña.

Karim Benzema - 4 (Real Madrid)

The world was accustomed to seeing Karim Benzema don the full white kit of Real Madrid since 2009 where he has five Champions League triumphs as well. The summer saw Benzema leave on a free transfer and join Al Ittihad in the trending Saudi Pro League. The French forward has four hatricks in UCL notably. The clubs that conceded three goals in a Champions League night by Benzema are AJ Auxerre, Malmö FF, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea FC.

Robert Lewandowski - 6 (Dortmund, Bayern & Barcelona)

The only player currently active in Champions League games on this list. Robert Lewandowski needs three more hattricks to get the better of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The 35-year-old Poland national moved to FC Barcelona in July 2022 and scored three goals past Viktoria Plzen in his UCL debut for the Blaugrana. This made him the first-ever player to score hattricks with three different sides in UCL. Previously he had four with Bayern while his first ever came in the colours of Borussia Dortmund.

Lionel Messi - 8 (Barcelona)

The 30 October Ballon d'Or ceremony could see Lionel Messi add another to his already stunning collection of seven. The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner with Argentina's national football team decided to leave Europe and join David Beckham's Inter Miami in the summer. Messi did play for PSG for two seasons but has had success in the Barcelona kit winning four UCL titles. Among the eight different clubs, Messi has a hattrick against two partake in the Premier League games - Arsenal and Man City.

Cristiano Ronaldo - 8 (Real Madrid & Juventus)

The Portuguese legend and global icon has 8 UCL hattricks to his name. Seven of those, Ronaldo netted while he was in Real Madrid. The seven club names were - AFC Ajax, Shakhtar Donetsk, VfL Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich, Atlético de Madrid, Galatasaray and Malmö FF.

Although the most memorable one came against Atlético de Madrid the second time. This time in the colours of Juventus. Juventus progressed 3-2 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals against a cocky Diego Simeone's Madrid just because of a highly motivated Ronaldo stirring the night to make his own.