Andoni Iraola wasn't surprised hat-trick hero Bradley Barcola opened his Liverpool account in emphatic fashion in the Champions League romp against LASK.
Barcola scored his first goals since a £123million move from Paris Saint-Germain during the summer to help the Reds to a 6-3 triumph in Austria on Wednesday evening. Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and young striker Lewis Koumas also found the target in the biggest win of Iraola's fledgling reign. Florian Wirtz, who assisted the second goal for Barcola, was also an impressive performer as the duo responded to the public show of faith from Iraola before the game.
First career treble ends goal drought
Barcola, though, was the standout with his first career treble to end a run of six games without a goal that had prompted questions over his transfer.
And Iraola said: "I'm really happy for Bradley, because you were asking me yesterday about him, not making the numbers, also Florian, and I think both of them today played really, really well. I think they made a difference. Bradley, apart from the hat-trick, I thought he was a threat, always when one-on-one, certainly in behind and he helped us a lot to control the game, finding the pockets. I am and happy for both of them, yes."
Confidence boost for the pair
"I think for their confidence for sure, it's very good. I think they feel now that we trust them a lot, but at the end, we enjoy a little bit playing in the Champions League away. I think it's going to be very good, very good for them," he added.
Barcola's hat-trick was the first of his professional career and the first time a Liverpool player had netted an away treble since Mohamed Salah scored three times at Rangers in a 7-1 Champions League win in October 2022.
Iraola: 'It wasn't a big surprise'
And Iraola added: "I think he has to enjoy this. To score a hat-trick in the Champions League is always very difficult. I think he looked, even just in training, you could feel he was very lively, and sometimes you feel these things (are going to happen). You never know how he is going to play the next day, but it wasn't a big surprise because we were feeling he was in a good place going into the game."
