Three hat-tricks in Gladbach's 11-1 German Cup romp

New signing Alassane Plea, Thorgan Hazard and Raffael all claimed hat-tricks as Borussia Moenchengladbach romped to a 11-1 win at minnows Hastedt in the German Cup on Sunday. Gladbach raced into a 3-0 lead with just 15 minutes gone at fifth-tier Hastedt, in the suburbs of Bremen, and led 6-0 at the break. Former France Under-21 striker Plea, who Gladbach paid Nice 25 million euros ($28.5m) for last month, celebrated his competitive debut with three goals. "You could see that we had a lot of fun, we didn't stop after the break and it was a super Sunday evening," said Jonas Hofmann who scored one of the other goals. "Against Leverkusen, it will be a different game," he added with Gladbach to play Bayer Leverkusen next Saturday on the opening weekend of the 2018/19 Bundesliga season. Against limited defence, the cup tie turned into shooting practise for the Bundesliga team. Not to be out done by Plea, Borussia's Belgium international Thorgan Hazard, brother of Chelsea star Eden, also claimed a hat-trick. He started the scoring with a second minute penalty, then fired in a free-kick just before the break and claimed his third goal six minutes from time. And Brazilian striker Raffael helped himself to three goals inside 35 minutes. Midfielders Florian Neuhaus and Hofmann also got on the scoresheet to complete the rout. Hastedt's consolation goal was scored by striker Diyar Kucuk just before the final whistle. Gladbach's tally fell short of the German Cup record. Bayern Munich, who needed a Robert Lewandowski goal to beat minnows Drochtersen/Assel on Saturday, claimed it with a 16-1 win over Waldberg in the first-round in 1997/98 when Carsten Jancker hit five goals.