
Vangelis Pavlidis stood tall as a chief protagonist in Benfica’s epic UEFA Champions League clash with Barcelona, scoring three times in their dramatic 4-5 away loss to the Catalonian outfit.
The Greek striker bagged his hat-trick inside the first thirty minutes of the contest on Wednesday morning (AEDT), giving the Portuguese side a 3-1 lead heading into half time.
His first came in just the second minute of the contest when he hit the ball home from close range following a low ball from the left.
The striker’s second came in shocking circumstances as he latched onto a ball outside the box following a collision between two Barcelona players in goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and left back Alejandro Balde, with the Greek then guiding it into an empty net.
The marksman then sealed the hat-trick with a penalty into the bottom right (30′), wrapping up a stellar first half.
Pavlidis became just the second Greek to score a hat-trick since the competition was rebranded into the Champions League in 1992, with the first being Kostas Mitroglou when he scored all the goals in Olympiacos’ 3-0 win against Anderlecht in October 2013.
Despite his contributions, Benfica lost the contest 4-5 after a remarkable comeback by the Spanish heavyweights saw them overturn a 4-2 deficit.
The result will no doubt have dampened the mood of Pavlidis’ exemplary performance, though it does not take anything away from it as he etched his name among an esteemed list of players that have achieved the same feat.
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