Mbappé nets quick hat trick in his 4-goal game as Real Madrid beats Olympiakos in Champions League
Piraeus (Greece) (AP:) Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé scored four goals in a Champions League match for the first time in his career Wednesday, including the second-fastest hat trick in the competition's history.
Mbappé netted three times in just under seven minutes in Real Madrid's 4-3 win at Olympiakos.
“I'm very happy to have scored the goals, it's always a pleasure for me,” Mbappé said. “My teammates always set me up with good balls. I'm lucky to play for this team that has so much quality.”
Mbappé scored the hat trick in the 22nd, 24th and 29th minutes — after Chiquinho had put Olympiakos ahead in the eighth. The France international added his fourth goal in the 60th after Mehdi Taremi had scored for the hosts in the 52nd. Ayoub El Kaabi scored Olympiakos' third goal in the 81st.
Mohamed Salah's hat trick for Liverpool at Rangers in 2022 had broken the record for the quickest ever scored in the Champions League, according to UEFA. The Egypt forward needed six minutes, 12 seconds to score his goals after entering the match seven minutes before his opening strike.
It was Mbappé's fifth hat trick in the Champions League — and second this season. He had scored three times against Kairat in the second round of the league phase. Two of his hat tricks came with Paris Saint-Germain.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have eight hat tricks each in the Champions League, while Robert Lewandowski has six.
Mbappé now leads the Champions League in scoring this season with nine goals, three more than Galatasaray's Victor Osimhen. It's already Mbappé's best Champions League tally in a season. He has 22 goals in 18 matches with Madrid this campaign.
“His goals are crucial, it's a natural talent that he has, but that's not all. His personality, teamwork, unity... it's all among the intangibles that he brings," Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said of Mbappé.
Mbappé's goals helped Madrid end a three-game winless streak across all competition, and moved the Spanish powerhouse to fifth place in the league-phase standings of the Champions League.
“It was important to win again,” Mbappé said. “Three matches without a victory is a lot for us. We had to win to make sure we stay in the top eight, which is the goal for us now.”
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Lebanon appoints new representative for talks with Israel, rejects linkage to Iran
Beirut: Lebanon’s has moved to underline its independent position in ongoing regional developments, amid attempts to link the country to the broader conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
President Joseph Aoun, while announcing the appointment of former US ambassador Simon Karam as Lebanon’s representative in talks with Israel, made it clear that Karam would be the sole representative for Lebanon and that there would be no substitute.
The move comes in response to what the Lebanese officials see as efforts by Iran to tie Lebanon’s situation to the wider regional conflict. Iran had indicated that there would be no ceasefire involving the US, Israel and Iran unless it also included a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Some groups, including Hezbollah and its supporters, had expressed support for linking the situations, citing concerns that the Lebanese government has limited leverage in negotiations with Israel. Lebanon is not formally a party to the conflict, and its army is considered weak.
However, others, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, have opposed this approach. They view Iran’s stance as an attempt to influence Lebanon’s internal affairs and see it as undermining the country’s sovereignty.
Officials backing the government’s position say the move is aimed at reaffirming Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring that decisions about peace and ceasefire within the country are not dictated externally.
They also see it as a safeguard, so that any breakdown in talks between the US, Israel and Iran does not automatically lead to renewed conflict in Lebanon.
