Spare a thought for Bafetimbi Gomis. Many of the Champions League records are firmly in the domain of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Very few reside with the former Swansea and Saint-Etienne striker. Yet for 11 years, Gomis had the distinction of scoring the quickest ever hat-trick in the most prestigious club competition. An eight-minute treble for Lyon against Dinamo Zagreb dislodged Mike Newell, who had held the record for the previous 16 years after his treble against Rosenborg.
If there was something charmingly implausible about the identities of the players who were responsible for the two most devastating displays of scoring in spurts the Champions League had ever witnessed, perhaps it is more appropriate that the mantle passes to Mohamed Salah. He has a greater propensity to be prolific, a proven ability to look unstoppable. He can be a magician with momentum. “We all know when it is running for Mo, he is exceptional, absolutely exceptional,” said Jurgen Klopp, who had started his trip to Ibrox by benching Salah.
