Athletic Bilbao front-man Aritz Aduriz this week became the first player to score five in a Europa League game since the competition was revamped from the old UEFA Cup in 2009. The veteran almost moved into the top 10 of the historic Basque club's all-time top scorers in the process.
Aduriz, who will celebrate turning 36 years of age in February, is a player who is perhaps best described as a late bloomer, having become prolific in front of goal since turning 30 - the age at which most players usually start to slow down.
Aritz Aduriz first player to score 5 goals in an #UEL match pic.twitter.com/8C5DuZhKcO
But instead of hitting the brakes, his 30th birthday was when the Spaniard, who has had two previous spells with Athletic, as well Real Valladolid, Mallorca and Valencia,firmly hit the accelerator.
Of the 243 career goals he has scored for club and country, Aduriz has scored well over half since turning 30 in early 2011 - 142 of them, to be precise.
Since the start of the 2014/15 season alone, the striker has netted an incredible 72 times for Athletic in all competitions, as well as once for Spain after a six-year absence from the national side.
Aduriz has alsocollected the last two prestigiousZarra trophies, the award named for Athletic legend Telmo Zarra and presented to the highest scoring Spanish player in La Liga each, and shows no signs of slowing down.
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