So I came upon this thought randomly today, and looked up when was the last time an Italian player scored a hat-trick in the Champions League. I was somewhat shocked to find out that it was Vincenzo Iaquinta for Udinese, in September 2005. That’s right, it’s been 17 years since an Italian has had a treble in the CL. Combined with Gilardino being the last scorer of a hat-trick for Italy a whopping 14 years ago, are these symptoms of the general decline of Italian football or simply Italian forwards?
Genuine question because now I’m curious during that time, surely Italian teams have had a forward score a hat trick. Maybe Tevez, Higuain, Dzeko stretching further back Milito, Eto’o, Sheva, Kaka?