On October 12, Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino spoke with UEFA about how he anticipated Mohamed Salah would score a hat-trick for Liverpool in their 7-1 victory against Rangers.
As Salah entered the game in place of Darwin Nunez in the 68th minute with the score at 3-1, he promptly smashed the record for the quickest Champions League hat-trick in the history of the competition.
The Egyptian scored his first goal in the 75th minute after he pounced on a pass that had been ricocheted off Diogo Jota and then shot it past the goalie for the Rangers, Allan McGregor.
After being surrounded by players from the other team in the 80th minute, he was able to grab his second goal with a wonderful finish that went past McGregor five minutes later.
Then, only one minute later, in the 81st minute, he surpassed the record for the fastest hat trick scored in the Champions League by scoring it.
After cutting inside onto his left foot, Salah then placed the ball past McGregor to leave the Ibrox audience in complete and utter disbelief.
When the Liverpool winger scored his historic hat-trick, Firmino wasn’t too surprised since he had seen it coming.
A chat that the Brazilian had with Nunez immediately before the Egyptian completed his record-breaking performance has been disclosed by the Brazilian:
“When he scored his first goal, I told Darwin on the bench that he will score a hat-trick 100%. I could feel it from the bench, that’s exactly what he did and I’m so happy for him.”
Firmino was also involved in the scoring, tallying two goals on the evening before setting up Nunez to score his first goal for the Merseysiders in the Champions League.
In the 87th minute, Harvey Elliott added his name to the scoreboard, helping the Reds cruise to an easy win in an otherwise tumultuous second half.
