Five players with most hat-tricks in La Liga History

Bengaluru, Nov. 11: Breaking records is not a new thing for Lionel Messi and the Barcelona superstar again achieved a new milestone in the weekend against Celta Vigo, where he helped his side to a 4-1 win.

The Barcelona skipper scored three times at Camp Nou as the La Liga side slid back to the top of the table after a tough week in which they lost to Levante and drew with Sparta Prague.

The Argentine attacker's treble against Vigo was his 34th Liga hat-trick, taking him to level with record holder and departed former Real Madrid man Cristiano Ronaldo for most hat-tricks in the Spanish top-flight. The only active player left with the second-most hattrick in the list now is, his teammate, Luis Suarez, with 10.

To achieve the feat, Messi, however, has had to overcome some of the biggest names of Spanish football. He and Ronaldo currently sit top in terms of most number of hattricks in La Liga but there are three other legends of the game as well, who also deserve a mention in the list. Below we put together all the five record holders, who are in the top five in this segment.

Edmundo Suarez Trabanco - 19 hat-tricks

The Spanish forward was a legend of the game in the '60s and regarded the best player to don the Valencia jersey. He still maintains the record for the highest number of league goals scored for Valencia. He won the Spanish top goal scoring award twice and still is currently the tenth highest goal scorer in the history of the Spanish league, and the fifth-highest goal scorer in the history of the Copa del Rey. He netted 186 goals in 210 appearances for them with a total of 19 hat-tricks for the club.

Alfredo di Stefano - 22 jat-tricks

People may think of Cristiano Ronaldo to be the best ever to don the white jersey, however, this man is believed to be the reason why the Spanish side rose to the pinnacle since the '50s. He won 8 La Liga trophies as well as five Champions league, even scored in all the finals. He is Real Madrid's third-highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches between 1953 and 1964, with 22 Hat-tricks.

Telmo Zarra- 23 La Liga hat-tricks

The Spanish forward was a prolific goalscorer in his 15 seasons at the Basque club, winning the highest scorer in La Liga on a record six occasions. He scored a total of 251 league goals, a Spanish record that lasted nearly six decades before being broken by Lionel Messi. He has 23 La Liga Hat-tricks to his name.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - 34 La Liga hat-tricks

Cristiano Ronaldo still has the most hat-tricks by any active player for club and country but his record in Spanish top-flight now has been matched by the diminutive Argentinian. Messi was three short of Ronaldo's 34 before he left for Juventus last summer. Messi then scored three Liga hat-tricks in the 2018-19 season, before pulling level with his mark of 34 against Celta Vigo.