How often does a player score five or more goals in La Liga? Who was the last player to achieve this feat? Who has scored the most goals in La Liga match?
Radamel Falcao became only the second Atletico Madrid player in history to net five goals in a single game, with his haul achieved against Deportivo on Sunday evening.
The first player to manage this for Atleti was Brazilian forward Vava, who netted five for the club almost exactly 54 years ago to the day, managing his tally against Real Zaragoza on December 7, 1958.
Falcao is the first player in La Liga to manage five or more in a game since Fernando Morientes did in Real Madrid’s 7-0 win over Las Palmas in February 2002.
Alen Peternac is the player previous to this to have managed the total, with the help of four penalties during Real Valladolid’s 8-3 win at Real Oviedo in May 1996, in the same season that saw Bebeto achieve the record for Deportivo, as he netted all five in their win over Albacete in October 1995.
Falcao’s five goals this weekend was the 38th such occasion that a player has managed five or more in a single League game in Spain’s top flight.
Telmo Zarra managed five goals in a game on three separate occasions and is one of three players, alongside Valencia’s Mundo and Granada’s Cesar, to have scored six in a game.
However, the most goals scored in a single La Liga game is seven, a figure that has been achieved twice. Bata was the first to reach this tally in 1931 in Athletic’s 12-1 win over Barcelona, and he was followed by La Blaugrana’s Laszlo Kubala in 1952, who scored seven of his team’s nine in their win over Sporting.
Bata’s haul was also the first occasion in League history that a player has managed five goals or more in a single game.
