‘It’s a story to tell my grandkids’ – Jota thrilled with Europa League treble

Wolves’ Diogo Jota admits he will tell his grandchildren about his rapid Europa League hat-trick.

The forward plundered an 11-minute treble after coming off the bench to inspire a 4-0 win over Besiktas on Thursday.

Jota became the first Wolves player to score three in a major European competition since Derek Dougan in 1971.

He also scored with his first touch, 77 seconds following his introduction, to net the third fastest hat-trick in the competition’s history.

“It makes me proud. I didn’t know that stat, it’s really good. It’s a story to tell my grandkids when I get old,” he told the club’s official site.

“I think it was the first time that happened to me (scoring with his first touch). That’s football, that’s why we love this game, anything can happen, but now we are focused on our next game on Sunday (at home to Tottenham).

“We are playing well, we are having good results, but we just want to keep on going.”

The game was going nowhere before Jota’s 56th-minute introduction but by the 68th minute Wolves were 4-0 up thanks to Jota’s treble and Leander Dendoncker’s header.

“I think everyone that is on the bench wants to come on and make an impact, fortunately I had that impact – it was very good for me; a hat-trick. I’m very happy we got the win as well,” said Jota.

Despite their victory Wolves finished second in Group K after Braga won 4-2 at Slovan Bratislava on Thursday.

It means Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will not be seeded in the last 32 when the draw is made on Monday and could face Nuno’s former side Porto along with Ajax, Inter Milan or Salzburg.

Jota added: “Our main goal was to get through the group stage and we accomplished that. Now we wait for the draw and we will play game by game as always.”