On Tuesday, Robert Lewandowski scored an 11-minute record-breaking hat-trick that takes Bayern Munich sailing into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-1 home win over Red Bull Salzburg.
The Polish striker scored three goals in his account in the 23rd minute, the earliest time that ever to achieve the feat in the course of a Champions League game–as Bayern were able to shake off their initial tension to hammer Salzburg.
“This was a statement from us, and it gives us hope that there is more like this to come,” Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said on Amazon Prime after his side reached the final eight players for the record 20th time.
READ MORE: Liverpool Advance to the Champions League Quarter-Finals Despite Inter Milan’s Loss
Austrian champions Salzburg held Bayern to a draw of 1-1 in the first leg; however, their hopes of causing a surprise in Munich ended in defeat after Lewandowski made it 2-1 with his tap-in goal and two penalties to make Bayern in the direction of the famous win.
In just 10 minutes and 27 seconds between the second and his third goal, this was the fastest among the six goals that the Pole has scored so far through the Champions League.
“We knew we had to attack the box early today and get Lewy into the game because he is so hard to defend against,” Thomas Mueller said. Thomas Mueller.
“We all knew how important this game was today. If we had been knocked out, it would have been an unfortunate next three months for us,” said the coach.
Bayern began with an attacking-heavy 3-5-2 formation, but they appeared uneasy at the back and had chances both ways in the first 15 minutes.
Lewandowski caused a dramatic saving at Philipp Koehn with the first attack of the match, and Nicolas Capaldo was denied at the other by a superb block by Kingsley Coman.
Lewandowski graciously saved an opportunity to give Bayern the lead after 12 minutes following his injury on the right side of his head by Maximilian Woeber in the box.
At first, the lead was not enough to soothe Bayern’s nerves. Salzburg nearly equalised when Nicolas Seiwald fizzed a fierce shot into the goal at the opposite end.
However, Lewandowski had been in prey mood and added two more goals to finish his hat-trick and push the tie over even the Austrian side.
After smashing another penalty into the corner to increase the lead, he scored a further in the reverse-attack, after chasing an ungainly ball to the goal after a one-on-one encounter with Koehn.
Bayern was now in a frenzy with excitement, they were now roaring, and Serge Gnabry drilled home a brutally inevitable fourth following an exquisite passing move at the hour-mark.
Mueller hit a fantastic shot through the corner, making the score 5-0 just minutes after half-time, and Bayern started to turn on the cruise control.
The visitors scored an equalizer with the perfect counter-attack, which took place 20 minutes after the break, with Dane Maurits Kjaergaard smashing a Geoff-Hurst-style finish to the top of the goal over Manuel Neuer.
However, the hosts were the last to have the word when Mueller struck his second goal and Lewandowski put in Sane for Bayern’s seventh just a few minutes before the end of time.
