Kylian Mbappé’s current damage compelled head coach Xabi Alonso to search for alternate options forward of a demanding stretch of matches, and he discovered one in Gonzalo García, who delivered a starring efficiency on Sunday. Together with his hat trick towards Actual Betis, the Spanish striker earned his place amongst an elite goalscoring group at Actual Madrid.
With Actual Madrid set to host Betis in La Liga, Mbappé grew to become a notable absence after struggling a knee sprain in coaching earlier this week. Trying to find options throughout the squad, Alonso turned to García to interchange the French star, pairing the teen up entrance alongside Vinícius Júnior.
The 21-year-old opened the scoring within the twentieth minute with a header, doubled the lead within the fiftieth with a strong right-footed volley, and accomplished his hat trick with a intelligent backheel end within the 82nd minute. The standout show within the 5-1 win on the Santiago Bernabéu positioned García in a extremely choose group of Actual Madrid gamers.
Together with his objectives towards Betis, Gonzalo García grew to become solely the second participant within the twenty first century to attain a hat trick in his first La Liga look as a goalscorer for Actual Madrid. The one different participant to perform the feat was Ruud van Nistelrooy, who did so in September 2006 towards Levante in his second league match.
Gonzalo Garcia of Actual Madrid celebrates with the match.
He additionally accomplished what is called a “good hat trick,” scoring along with his head, left foot, and proper foot. The final Actual Madrid participant to attain that feat in any competitors was Rodrygo towards Galatasaray within the Champions League, whereas the latest instance in La Liga got here from Cristiano Ronaldo towards Actual Sociedad in 2018.
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Garcia’s return to Alonso’s plans
With Mbappé producing 29 objectives for Actual Madrid this season, alarms have been raised when the membership misplaced its main scorer to an damage anticipated to sideline him for as much as three weeks. With the Spanish Tremendous Cup approaching, questions rapidly emerged over who would step into the void left by the French famous person.
In Actual Madrid’s newest match, Alonso opted to start out García because the central striker, marking his fourth begin of the 2025-26 season and his second in La Liga. The choice paid off in emphatic trend, as Los Blancos cruised previous Betis and closed the hole on league leaders FC Barcelona.
After ending as the highest scorer on the 2025 FIFA Membership World Cup, García noticed his function diminished amid hypothesis a couple of attainable departure. Nevertheless, with Actual Madrid set to face Atlético Madrid within the Spanish Tremendous Cup semifinals on Thursday, January 8, and Mbappé nonetheless sidelined, the in-form striker has positioned himself as the first attacking choice as soon as once more.
