The Greek Vangelis Pavlidis (Thessaloniki, 1998) only had seven goals this season for Benfica but Against Barcelona, in the Champions League, he made three in 29 minutes. The fourth hat-trick of his career (one with Bochum, two with AZ) for a true ‘goal globetrotter’.
Formed in the Greek Bebides 2000, he went through Bochum, the Dortmund youth team and Willem II before arriving at AZ, where he completely exploded. 80 goals in 137 games with those from Alkmaar. lIn 2023-24, which earned him a passport to Lisbon, he scored 33 goals. Enough for Benfica to pay 18 ‘kilos’ for him.
But there is more. ‘Pavli’, who has an exit clause of 100 million in Lisbon, was close to the 58-year-old record held by Johan Cruyff in the Eredivisie. The myth scored in 14 League games. The Greek stayed at nine.
Pavlidis, on the other hand, has become the fourth player to score a hat-trick against Barcelona in the Champions League. Before him, Faustino Asprilla did it with Newcastle in 1997-98, that same season Shevchenko with Dynamo kyiv… and Kylian Mbappé with PSG in 2020-21.
-Yes indeed, The second player who has needed the least time is placed: Asprilla, leads. He did it in 27.Pavlidis en 29, Shevchenko in 35 and Mbappé, in 52 minutes.
Besides, This Pavlidis hat-trick is the third fastest, counting from the start, in a Champions League match (29 minutes). He falls behind Robert Lewandowski against Salzburg in 2022 (23 minutes, with Barcelona itself) and Marco Simone against Rosenborg in 1996 (24, with Milan).
Senegal
