• Champions League

Will Welbeck follow Mike Newell or Michael Owen?

Nick Atkin
October 2, 2014
Hislop: De Gea yet to reach full potential

It was a night of milestones for Danny Welbeck at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old scored his first professional hat-trick in Arsenal's 4-1 win over Galatasaray and in the process joined a select band of just five other Englishman to have done so in the Champions League.

Danny Welbeck scored his first professional hat-trick in Arsenal 4-1 win against Galatasaray © Getty Images
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Welbeck's superb treble sees him emulate the likes of Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, suggesting Louis van Gaal may have been wrong after all to let the striker, born and bred in Longsight, leave his boyhood club United on transfer deadline day.

Van Gaal's loss looks like it could be Arsene Wenger's gain, with Arsenal making him the most expensive striker in their history at £16 million.

Following Wednesday's win, Wenger admitted he had been taken aback by Welbeck's "electric" pace and the quality of his finishing.

Welbeck certainly looked like he was determined to prove a point against Galatasaray, however, not all of those Englishmen who have scored a Champions League hat-trick have gone on to enjoy stellar careers.

Here, we take a look at their ups and downs:

Mike Newell scored a hat-trick against Rosenborg in nine minutes © Getty Images
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Mike Newell

Newell held the record for the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history when he scored three goals in nine minutes for Blackburn against Rosenborg in the 1995-96 season.

It proved to be Blackburn's only win in their only ever campaign in the competition following their title triumph the previous season, with the club failing to qualify from their group.

However, Newell scored just three league goals that season before leaving for Birmingham, having scored 28 goals in 120 appearances overall. The move proved to be unsuccessful, though, beginning a five-year spell at seven different clubs.

Newell joined West Ham on loan in December 1996 and went to Bradford on loan in March 1997, before moving to Aberdeen in the summer.

Spells at Crewe, Doncaster Rovers and finally Blackpool followed before Newell retired in May 2001.

Newel's Champions League record was to be broken in 2011-12 when Bafetimbi Gomis hit three in seven minutes for Lyon in an emphatic 7-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb.

Andy Cole

Former Manchester United striker Cole became the first Englishman to score two Champions League hat-tricks, and is just one of 14 players in footballing history to have achieved the feat.

Cole's first came in a 3-1 away win at Feyenoord before he bagged another in a 5-1 victory over Anderlecht in September 2000.

He would ultimately score 23 goals in 54 Champions League appearances, famously winning the competition as part of United's treble in 1999.

Also winning five league titles and two FA Cups, Cole left United for Blackburn in 2001 and went on to become the second highest scorer in Premier League history with 187 goals.

He retired in 2009 after spells at Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Sunderland, Burnley and Nottingham Forest.

Michael Owen

Michael Owen scored a hat-trick in Manchester United's 3-1 win at Wolfsburg in 2009 © Getty Images
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Like Cole, Owen was another to have grabbed two Champions League hat-tricks.

His first came in a 3-1 win at Spartak Moscow in October 2002, with Liverpool going on to finish a disappointing third in their group.

Owen joined Real Madrid in 2004, missing out on Liverpool's remarkable fifth European Cup win the following May, but would register another Champions League treble.

This time it was for Liverpool's heated rivals Manchester United, whom Owen joined on a free transfer from Newcastle in 2009. Owen helped United to a 3-1 win over Wolfsburg in the group stages that season, with United going on to be knocked out in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich.

He was also an unused substitute in the 2011 final defeat to Barcelona at Wembley, before leaving United for Stoke in 2012, retiring after just one season.

Alan Shearer

It took Alan Shearer 14 games to register a Champions League goal, but the wait was worth it when he scored a hat-trick for Newcastle at home to Bayer Leverkusen in February 2003.

It came during the second group stage of that year's competition, when the old-style format was still in use, with Newcastle going out after finishing behind Barcelona and Inter.

The former Southampton striker, who also won the title at Blackburn in 1995, eventually retired in 2006 and is the Premier League's record scorer with 283 goals to his name.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick on his Manchester United debut © Getty Images
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There aren't many better ways to announce yourself at a new club than with a Champions League hat-trick on your debut.

Rooney did just that for United in a 6-2 home win against Fenerbahce in September 2004. It was his first game since limping out of England's quarter-final defeat to Portugal at Euro 2004, with the then 18-year-old celebrating his £27m move from Everton in style.

United would go on to suffer elimination at the hands of AC Milan in the last 16 that season, but Rooney would win the competition under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2008 before losing two finals to Barcelona in 2009 and 2011,

Rooney currently has 29 Champions League goals in 81 appearances.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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