Liverpool made it back-to-back Champions League victories with a 6-3 hammering of LASK in Austria on Wednesday night. Bradley Barcola got up and running with a hat-trick as Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and Lewis Koumas all scored in an entertaining spectacle at the Raiffeisen Arena.
National media reaction to Barcola's treble
The Daily Mail's Lewis Steele wrote: "Barcola’s treble was the first away hat-trick for Liverpool since Mohamed Salah did so at Ibrox against Rangers four years ago. Barcola was unplayable and the away end sang about how he ‘runs down the wing for me’ to the tune of Buddy Holly’s Heartbeat."
Steele added: "In truth, he does a lot more than just making runs down the wing. He cuts inside, he can score goals, he is not selfish and enjoys link-up play, he is hard-working off the ball. Or, to summarise, he is a complete player who is a two-time European champion worth £123m for a reason."
Wirtz and Ngumoha also praised
Paul Joyce, of The Times, reflected: "Bradley Barcola has grown accustomed to enjoying landmark nights in the Champions League. Of course, they have tended to involve him hoisting aloft the trophy at the end of a long and arduous campaign, so the hat-trick he scored as Liverpool swatted aside the challenge of LASK rather pales in comparison."
Joyce continued: "But a first ever senior treble also represented his first overdue contributions since a £123m move from Paris Saint-Germain and should not only aid his acclimatisation, but encourage him to set his sights on making the difference when opponents are not quite so obliging as the Austrian champions proved."
Over on the pages of The Independent, Jamie Braidwood wrote: "Ironically, the standout winger on the night was arguably Rio Ngumoha, with the 18-year-old tormenting LASK throughout with his direct dribbling and trickery out wide. But it was Barcola who produced the clinical touches in the area, adding to his electric bursts of speed and movement behind the LASK backline."
Braidwood added: "Ngumoha was the spark for Barcola’s first Liverpool goal, working his way into the box before a clever flick from Koumas allowed Barcola to sweep a first-time finish into the far corner."
Wirtz takes charge
Samuel Meade, on The Mirror's pages, scribed: "Forget any caveats about the level of opposition, this is the type of game that a £100million player should thrive in and that is exactly what Florian Wirtz did. The game just looked to stand still for a second every time the German got the ball and its that type of quality Liverpool thought they'd landed last summer."
Meade continued: "Such performances have been few and far between, but with an inexperienced striker ahead of him, and a young midfielder behind him, Wirtz needed to take charge - and take charge he did. He constantly found pockets of space, his neat touches earned him time and he was constantly putting teammates in good positions, pulling the strings like he did at Bayer Leverkusen."
Meade added: "The pleasing thing for Iraola will be just how effective Barcola looked down the left, and that in part owed itself to the work done by Wirtz. The two worked impressively in tandem, and that's a connection those in Liverpool will hope continues to develop."
And last but certainly not least, the ECHO's very own Ian Doyle wrote: "No current Liverpool player knows Champions League success better than Bradley Barcola And the £123million signing brought a touch of European magic to kickstart his Anfield career and begin repaying the trust shown in him by Andoni Iraola."
Doyle added: "Barcola scored the first senior hat-trick of his career as the Reds responded to Sunday’s sobering Premier League reverse against Manchester City with a confidence-boosting triumph in Austria against LASK of Linz. The France international, a two-time Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain, also had a hand in another goal as the Reds romped to a 6-3 victory to maintain their 100% start to the competition this season."
Doyle concluded: "Sterner tests than this spirited but limited LASK side await during a busy period for the Reds, and there will be disappointment at the way concentration was lost defensively during the final quarter to allow the home side to make the game appear close than it actually was."
