Karim Benzema was Real Madrid's hat-trick hero for the second consecutive Champions League game as he put Chelsea to the sword in a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge, APAsport.az reports citing Mirror.
Having struck three goals in 17 minutes to knock Paris Saint-Germain out of the tournament in the previous round, his three goals against Chelsea also came within less than half an hour of each other.
Benzema scored two brilliant headerson 21 and 24 minutes to fire Real into a 2-0 lead. Chelsea pulled one back through Kai Havertz but Benzema struck again early in the second half after mistakes from Edouard Mendy and Antonio Rudiger.
His back-to-back hat-tricks took Benzema to 11 goals in the Champions League this season.
That tally, which has been built in just nine games, set a new record. No French player had previously hit double figures in a Champions League season.
Benzema's 11 goals in a season also beat the previous all-time record for a Frenchman, which was set by Just Fontaine in the 1958/59 season, before the European Cup was rebranded.
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