Who was the last player to score a La Liga hat trick against Real Madrid before Valentin Castellanos?

The Argentine made history for being the first players since 1947 to score four goals past Real Madrid in La Liga.

Who was the last player to score a La Liga hat trick against Real Madrid before Valentin Castellanos?

Valentin Castellanos had a night to remember as he bagged four goals against Real Madrid, helping Girona to a shock 4-2 win. The Argentinian became the first player to score four goals against Los Blancos in a single game in the Spanish top flight. The 24-year-old striker is on loan from MLS side New York City FC and has played an integral part for Girona as the newly-promoted side enjoys a strong season in the top flight.

He is the team’s top scorer this season, bagging 11 goals. The Argentine joined Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Carlos Soler among others to score a La Liga hat-trick against Los Blancos. He became the first player to score four against them in the 21st century in the Spanish top flight. Barça legend Leo Messi had been the last player to score 3 or more goals against Real Madrid in La Liga, in 2014.

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Castellanos also became the first Argentine player to score four goals in a single match against Real Madrid after 1947. His efforts for Girona have taken them to ninth in the table, an impressive standing following their promotion last season. The result represents a huge blow for Real Madrid in their domestic ambitions with a comeback looking very unlikely in La Liga.

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1. Lionel Messi

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credit: Twitter

Lionel Messi has been nothing short of a nightmare for Real Madrid. He is arguably one of the best players to have graced the game of football. The Argentine enjoys a fantastic record against Real Madrid having scored 26 goals in 46 appearances wherein he also has 14 assists to his name. His latest hat-trick against the Los Blancos came in a winning cause in a seven-goal thriller at the Santiago Bernabeu with Barcelona clinching the tie 4-3 back in 2014.

He spent 17 seasons in Spain wherein he won 10 La Liga and six Copa Del Rey titles. He also won the UEFA Champions League on four occasions during his time with the Catalan giants. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga, most hat-tricks in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League and most assists in La Liga and the Copa América. He also has the most international goals by a South American male.

Messi has scored over 800 senior career goals for club and country and has the most goals by a player for a single club. His best season came in the 2011-12 season when he scored 73 goals in 60 appearances for Barcelona. During the calendar year, Leo scored a record 91 goals combined in all competitions for Barcelona and the Argentina national side, shattering the mark of 85 tallied by Gerd Muller for Bayern Munich and Germany.

2. Valentin Castellanos

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credit: Twitter

Valentin Castellanos scored four goals in a single La Liga game against Real Madrid, becoming the first player to do so this century. The 24-year-old has 11 goals in La Liga this season, proving he can score in a top European league against top-level opposition his parent club being the New York City FC being loaned out to Girona. The head-turning performance from the man who led NYCFC to an MLS Cup title could prompt transfer interest this summer.

He finished as the winner of the MLS Golden Boot award in the 2021-22 season, scoring 19 goals. He also scored in all of the team’s Playoff Cup games as they lifted the MLS Cup trophy. Current Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski was the last man to score four goals against Los Blancos. The Polish forward achieved the feat while playing for Borussia Dortmund in 2013. He scored all four goals in Dortmund’s 4-1 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of the 2012-13 Champions League semifinals.

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