Valencia's Simone Zaza has become only the fourth Italian player to score a La Liga hat-trick, after hitting three against Malaga this evening.
The former Sassuolo, Juventus and West Ham United striker scored three goals in less than 10 second-half minutes at the Mestalla, before being taken off for Rodrigo.
His exploits made him just the fourth Italian player to take home the match ball in Spain’s top flight, with Christian Vieri the first in 1997.
Valencia's Simone Zaza has become only the fourth Italian player to score a La Liga hat-trick, after hitting three against Malaga this evening.
The former Sassuolo, Juventus and West Ham United striker scored three goals in less than 10 second-half minutes at the Mestalla, before being taken off for Rodrigo.
His exploits made him just the fourth Italian player to take home the match ball in Spain’s top flight, with Christian Vieri the first in 1997.
Bobo scored three times against Real Zaragoza, before topping that feat by scoring four against UD Salamanca on March 21 the following year.
The latter achievement makes Vieri one of the few players to have scored four times in a match and ended up on the losing side, as Salamanca took a 5-4 win.
Journeyman forward Christian Riganò became the second man from the peninsula to achieve the feat, scoring three times for Levante against Almeria during a brief six month sojourn in Spain.
He managed just one other goal and was loaned back to Siena in January, before being released when Levante were relegated at the end of the season.
Giuseppe Rossi has played arguably the best football of his career in La Liga, and he joined the ranks of Italian hat-tricks earlier this year.
The Italian international scored a treble inside 60 minutes against Las Palmas in April while playing for Celta Vigo, but sadly suffered yet another serious knee injury just days later.
Tonight Zaza added his name to the list with a hat-trick for Los Che, taking his tally to four for the season in five La Liga appearances.