Bradley Barcola scored the first senior hat-trick of his career as Liverpool responded to Sunday's Premier League defeat to Manchester City with a 6-3 victory over LASK of Linz in Austria, maintaining their 100% start to the Champions League this season.
The France international, a two-time Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain, also had a hand in another goal. His treble was Liverpool's first on the road since Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick against Rangers at Ibrox in October 2022.
Iraola's faith repaid
Manager Andoni Iraola had spoken before the game of having 100% trust in both Barcola and another big-money signing, Florian Wirtz, who has flattered to deceive for too much of the fledgling reign of the new Reds boss. That faith was repaid emphatically, with Wirtz delivering easily his best performance of the season in a competition in which he has arguably enjoyed his most impressive moments as a Liverpool player.
Given the lengthy list of attacking players injured for Iraola, the contribution of the pair was particularly timely. There were further positives in the performances of youngsters Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas, whose late goal to cap the victory was greeted with as big a cheer from the away end as any of the previous five.
Defensive lapses and rotation
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 closer than it actually was.
With this the second of a hectic run of nine games in 29 days, Iraola was compelled to rotate his resources. The benched Virgil van Dijk failed to start a Premier League or Champions League game that wasn't a dead rubber for the first time since being suspended for the trip to Wolves more than three years ago. In his absence, Kostas Tsimikas, making his first start in the competition since the defeat at PSV Eindhoven in January 2025, was named skipper for the first time.
This was also a notable occasion for 18-year-old midfielder Nyoni and 20-year-old forward Koumas, both handed their first Champions League starts. Along with Tsimikas and Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and Jeremie Frimpong were the other changes to the starting line-up.
Ruthless first-half display
The visitors, playing in all white, had already knocked on the door several times when Ronald Araujo met a Tsimikas delivery from the left with a powerful header for the opener on 22 minutes. Barcola's first goal two minutes later owed much to a strong run from Ngumoha, with Koumas doing superbly to keep the ball alive and tee up Barcola to sweep home right-footed into the far corner from 15 yards.
Then, on 37 minutes, Wirtz gained reward for his relentless probing of the LASK backline, a disguised pass finding Barcola inside the area with the Frenchman taking possession with his right foot and then turning to finish with his left in one fluid movement. In between, a neat ball from Barcola had sent Gravenberch into the area with the midfielder unlucky his shot struck the inside of the far post before bouncing clear.
Frimpong was the unlikely scorer of Liverpool's fourth at the start of the second half when heading in at the far post after Barcola had fed the underlapping Tsimikas to cross from the left, before Frimpong turned provider with a low ball that invited Barcola to complete his hat-trick.
Having had to wait since September 1965 for their second home game in Europe's premier club competition, LASK supporters were intent on enjoying the occasion. To their credit, the Austrians kept on going. Robert Ljubicic pulled one goal back at 5-1 and, after Koumas had swept home Liverpool's sixth from another Frimpong cross, substitute Florian Flecker produced two fine finishes. But this was Barcola's night. Liverpool will hope it is the first of many.
