Following his stunning hat-trick on the opening matchday of Barcelona's 2022/23 UEFA Champions League campaign, Robert Lewandowski made competition history in his European debut for the Catalan giants on Wednesday night.
Click through the gallery above to see some of the action from Barcelona's 5-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen!
Barca kicked off their Champions League season in spectacular fashion as they thumped Czech Republic champions Viktoria Plzen 5-1 at the Camp Nou, and while it was a remarkable team performance from the Blaugrana, it was Lewandowski who was the protagonist of their victory.
The Pole carried his form in LaLiga, where he has five goals in four matches, into Europe's premier club competition, finding the back of the net on three occasions in Barca's rout of the tournament minnows.
The 34-year-old's hat-trick was his sixth in the UCL, with only Lionel Messi (8) and Cristiano Ronaldo (7) having scored more.
More importantly, the three goals he scored on Wednesday night means that Lewandowski is the only player to have scored hat-tricks for three different clubs in the competition, according to Opta Sports.
The Pole scored a memorable four goals for Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid in the 2012/13 season, before going on to bag four Champions League hat-tricks for Bayern Munich during his eight-year spell at the Allianz Arena.
Haaland Breaks Two UCL Records With Brace
Given the rate at which he is scoring, the €45 million (R778 million) it took to bring the player to the Camp Nou already seems like a bargain for the LaLiga giants and following the match, coach Xavi Hernandez lauded his new superstar attacker.
"Robert is like that, insatiable. I'm delighted with how he trains, how he helps his teammates," he said to members of the media, as per Sport.
"He's humble, he orders, and he does a great job of pressing.
"I'm not only left with the hat-trick, but for his work and how he dominates time."
Here are the 10 highest-paid players currently plying their trade in Europe:
