Monaco thrashed Deportivo Coruna 8-3 on Wednesday in an extraordinary match that set a record for the number of goals scored in a Champions League game and featured four goals from striker Dado Prso.

"It's difficult to grasp," said Monaco coach Didier Deschamps. "It's an extraordinary moment to beat a side like Deportivo 8-3 in the Champions League. It's the sort of thing that is unthinkable."

There had previously been only one 8-3 result in the elite European competition when Lokomotiv Sofia beat Malmo in the 1964-65 European Cup first round.

On his 29th birthday Prso became only the third player to score four in a Champions League game after Marco van Basten for AC Milan against IFK Gothenburg in 1992 and Simone Inzaghi for Lazio against Olympique Marseille in 2000.

"I'm very happy, it feels great," said Croatian Prso. "The coach said before the game he would give me a present. It's the first time I've scored four -- in training I've scored hat-tricks."

Monaco, beaten 1-0 in Spain by Deportivo, lead the group with nine points followed by Deportivo on seven and PSV Eindhoven six. PSV beat AEK Athens 2-0 on Wednesday.

Deportivo coach Javier Irureta was dumbfounded.

"To give away eight goals -- I don't know how to explain it," he said. "It was a strange game. We had lots of chances but we made lots of terrible defensive errors."

The French league leaders led 5-2 at halftime against a hapless Deportivo defence which committed a stream of schoolboy errors and could not deal with the pace and vision of Ludovic Giuly and Jerome Rothen.

Prso's was the second fastest Champions League hat-trick after Mike Newell's for Blackburn against Rosenborg in 1996.

Deportivo took shell-shocked keeper Jose Molina off at the break but his replacement Gustavo Munua picked the ball out of the net twice within five minutes as Prso scored again and Jaroslav Plasil added a seventh.

Diego Tristan, one of the few Deportivo players to shine, scored his second in the 52nd minute after some neat footwork but Edouard Cisse made it 8-3 in front of a disbelieving Monaco crowd, which included Prince Rainier.

SEVEN GOALS

The victory was even more astonishing as Fernando Morientes, the pivot of the Monaco side this season, failed a fitness test and watched the game with his former Real Madrid team mate Raul from the stands. Midfielder Giuly partnered Prso up front.

The first half started with a bang and contained seven goals in about 48 minutes.

A bad defensive header by Manuel Pablo Garcia left midfielder Rothen free in front of Molina and probably the best left foot in French soccer lifted the ball over the keeper.

Deportivo stayed on the offensive but were dealt a second sucker punch in the 11th minute when a superb through ball by Lucas Bernardi put Giuly through.

The midfielder drove forward, rounded Molina and coolly slotted the ball home.

Worse was to come for the Spanish side when a Rothen corner found Prso alone five metres out and he scored with ease.

Prso added his side's fourth when a sliced clearance allowed Monaco defender Gael Givet to nod across the goal and the long-haired forward headed home.

But while often a joke in defence, Deportivo were consistently dangerous coming forward and Flavio Roma was forced to turn a Tristan corner round the post at full stretch.

Tristan was not long denied, however. Receiving the ball at the far post with his back to the goal, he killed it, turned and tucked the ball home under Roma.

Five minutes later Lionel Scaloni made it 4-2 after Tristan's shot was superbly saved by Roma but the Deportivo defender stabbed the ball home in the 44th minute.

The first half scoring was not finished, however, as Giuly drew Molina and played the ball across for Prso to tap home.

Munua took over from Molina at halftime and within 90 seconds he was picking the ball out of the net. Racing out to beat Giuly to the ball, he headed it straight to midfielder Plasil who guided it home from 35 metres.

Within two minutes, 6-2 became 7-2 -- equalling the previous record for goals in a Champions League game -- when Prso scored his fourth by driving home a perfect cross from Rothen.

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