Who has scored the most goals in a single European game?
Monday, October 22, 2018
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Zlatan Ibrahimović scored four against Anderlecht five years ago today; how does that rank in the pantheon of the greatest #UCL scoring feats?
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Zlatan Ibrahimović scored four goals in a UEFA Champions League game at Anderlecht five years ago today, but his performance in Paris Saint-Germain's 5-0 win in Belgium was not enough to put him on our list of the greatest scoring feats in UEFA senior men's club competition.
Most goals in a UEFA Champions League game (group stage to final): 5
Lionel Messi (Barcelona 7-1 Bayer Leverkusen)
07/03/12, round of 16 second leg
"I have always said that it's fantastic when things come off for you like tonight and you play well – but only if you achieve your aims for the match. That's what happened against Leverkusen. The team played very, very well, the performance had some beautiful elements and we scored lots of goals."
Luiz Adriano (BATE Borisov 0-7 Shakhtar Donetsk)
21/10/14, group stage
"I'm happy to have scored five goals and to know that I was man of the match. I want to thank my team-mates because they helped me to score those goals and to play so well tonight."
Most goals in a single UEFA Europa League game: 5
Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Club 5-3 Genk)
03/11/16, group stage
"It's not easy to score five times in a game and the fact three were penalties makes it easier. The only thing I can do is thank my team-mates because without them it's impossible, and they've done some incredible work in order for us to score so many."
Most goals in a single European Cup/UEFA Champions League qualifying game: 5
Ove Ohlsson (IFK Göteborg 6-1 Linfield)
23/09/59, preliminary round second leg
Bent Löfquist (B1913 Odense 9-2 Spora Luxembourg)
13/09/61, preliminary round second leg
José Altafini (AC Milan 8-0 US Luxembourg)
12/09/62, preliminary round first leg
Ray Crawford (Ipswich Town 10-0 Floriana)
25/09/62, preliminary round second leg
Nikola Kotkov (Lokomotiv Sofia 8-3 Malmö FF)
10/09/64, preliminary round first leg
Flórián Albert (Ferencváros 9-1 Keflavík)
08/09/65, preliminary round second leg
Paul Van Himst (Haka 1-10 Anderlecht)
14/09/66, first round first leg
"It wasn't an even battle. When we arrived at the stadium on the bus an hour and a half before the match, we saw our opponents arriving on their bicycles with their kit bags strapped to their backs. Still, I remember this match with satisfaction – scoring five goals in a European Cup game is still something extraordinary."
Gerd Müller (Bayern München 9-0 Omonia)
24/10/72, second round first leg
Claudio Sulser (Grasshopper Club 8-0 Valletta)
13/09/78, first round first leg
Søren Lerby (Ajax 10-0 Omonia)
24/10/79, second round first leg
Mihails Miholaps (Skonto 8-0 Jeunesse Esch)
21/07/99, first qualifying round second leg
"Right after the game [coach] Aleksandrs Starkovs told me that I was the first player to score five goals in the UEFA Champions League era. It is a rare event by itself and a unique one for Latvia. It was a game where every shot went in. Looking back, you think: 'There were times when we surprised Europe for real!' Now David Lafata and Lionel Messi have also scored five goals. It is great to be in such company."
David Lafata (Sparta Praha 7-0 Levadia Tallinn)
15/07/14, second qualifying round first leg
"It is a special feeling. I might never score five in a game in the rest of my career, but the most important thing is our convincing win with so many goals. I know that I was also involved in the sixth goal, but it was an own goal – I knew that straight away. I scored from all my chances. You have days like that, but also ones when you cannot score no matter what you do."
Most goals in a UEFA European Championship game: 5
Malcolm MacDonald (England 5-0 Cyprus)
16/04/75, preliminary round
"In the third minute, [Alan] Hudson floated a free-kick in, I got on the end of it and I was on my way. When I got my third just after half-time he said: 'That's your first hat-trick, now get the second.' I scored five, had one disallowed for offside and hit the post before the final whistle."
Tibor Nyilasi (Hungary 8-1 Luxembourg)
19/10/75, preliminary round
John Bosman (Netherlands 8-0 Cyprus)
28/10/87, preliminary round – match abandoned due to crowd trouble
Marco van Basten (Malta 0-8 Netherlands)
19/12/90, preliminary round
"My weakness as a player was that I would have weeks where I scored a lot in a row but also periods when I couldn't score a single goal. My strike-rate was irregular. With the national team, I had a run of 13 matches without a goal and then I scored five against Malta. That is no coincidence – I am a guy of extremes."
Most goals in a men's UEFA club competition game: 6
Mascarenhas (Sporting CP 16-1 APOEL)
13/11/63, European Cup Winners' Cup first round first leg
"We knew they were beatable opponents, but we didn't really know what to expect. That day I scored goals in every way possible: with my right foot, my left foot, with my head – I might even have got one with my belly! It was undoubtedly my night. We set the record for goals scored by a team in a European competition and also the highest number of goals scored by a single player – me, with six! It was magnificent!"
Lothar Emmerich (Borussia Dortmund 8-0 Floriana)
10/10/65, European Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round second leg
Kiril Milanov (Levski Sofia 12-2 Reipas)
16/09/76 European Cup Winners' Cup first round first leg
Eldar Hadžimehmedović (Lyn 6-0 NSÍ Runavík)
28/08/03 UEFA Cup qualifying round second leg
"It goes without saying that this was the biggest thing I have ever experienced on a football pitch. I could not believe what happened, as I had barely scored for the first team before."