The UEFA Champions League, an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations was founded in 1955.
The competition is played by top-division European clubs and the winner of the competition is decided through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final.
Real Madrid, the present title holder of the championship has won it 14 times followed by AC Milan winning it seven times while Liverpool had only won it six times.
Below is a list of players who have scored five goals in single Champions League match.
1. Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a UEFA Champions League match on March 8, 2012.
The Argentine player scored twice before the end of the first half and three times in the second half.
The Argentina international had scored four goals against Arsenal in 2009-10, equalling the record of the likes of Marco van Basten and Simone Inzaghi, both of whom netted four times in a Champions League match.
His excellent performance gave Barcelona victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou.
Barcelona defeated Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 to advance to the quarter-finals with a 10-2 aggregate win.
2. Luiz Adriano
On October 21, 2014, Brazilian football player Luiz Adriano became the second player in the history of football to score five goals in a UEFA Champions League match against BATE Borisov.
Adriano, who presently plays for Brazil’s Sport Club Internacional had scored four first-half goals in the game while he was at Shakhtar Donetsk.
He added his fifth goal in the 82nd minute, his second penalty of the game.
3. Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland became the third player in history – and the first for nine years – to score five goals in a single UEFA Champions League game on March 14, 2023.
Manchester City defeated RB Leipzig 7-0 in the round of 16 second leg of the competition.
Haaland presently attains the current record of players who had scored five goals in a UEFA Champion League match.
He is also the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the history of the competition.
Erling Haaland completed his five-goal performance in 57 minutes while it took Lionel Messi 84 and Luiz Adriano 82.
“Congratulations to Erling for reaching yet more memorable milestones,” Manchester City wrote on its website.
