Werner joins Suarez in elite ‘hat-trick club’ even Ronaldo and Messi aren’t members of
No team has scored more goals in the Bundesliga this season than RB Leipzig, thanks largely to their resounding 8-0 demolition of Mainz at the weekend.
The Red Bull-owned franchise are deep in the midst of a title tilt in the German top flight and sit just four points behind leaders Borussia Monchengladbach. At the heart of their excellent form is striker Timo Werner.
The Germany international has been on the cusp of proving himself as a world-class striker for some time now and on Saturday, he truly exploded with not only a hat-trick of goals against Mainz but a hat-trick of assists as well.
This is undoubtedly an incredible achievement in isolation but becomes even more impressive when you realise the only other player to achieve this feat across Europe’s top five leagues since 2004/05 is Luis Suarez, who scored four goals and notched three assists in Barcelona’s 8-0 win away at Deportivo La Coruna in April 2016.
Others have come close, with Claudio Pizarro scoring four goals and grabbing two assists in Bayern Munich’s 9-2 win against Hamburg in 2013, while Neymar ran up the same totals when PSG thrashed Dijon 8-0 last year.
But Werner and Suarez now belong to an incredibly exclusive club that even these greats, as well as the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, have been unable to join.
Next in Leipzig and Werner’s sights are Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Champions League on Tuesday. The Russian side had best be on their guard with Werner in this kind of form.
Squawka is bringing you a Stat of the Day, every day, for 45 days as part of MANarama’s fundraising campaign for Prostate Cancer UK.
You can get involved in MANarama’s campaign by using the #GiveAndGo hashtag on social media and encouraging your friends and family to donate too.
Visit manarama.co.uk for more information. Click here to donate to the campaign’s Just Giving page.
