Bradley Barcola got off the mark for Liverpool in spectacular fashion, scoring the first hat trick of his career in a thrilling 6-3 win at Austrian champions LASK Linz on Wednesday.
Barcola, who arrived from European champions Paris Saint-Germain this summer in a deal worth a potential £123 million, had gone goalless in his first six appearances for Liverpool.
Pressure had been building on the France forward after the club’s marquee signing had not scored or set up any goals in four Premier League appearances.
Barcola joined from Paris Saint-Germain in the biggest deal of the summer transfer window, worth £123 million ($166 million), but had not made an immediate impact — unlike some of his predecessors at Liverpool, like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Luis Suárez and Fernando Torres.
But he put that right to emphatic effect Wednesday, with his first senior at trick in what was his 206th senior appearance.
“I’m really happy for Bradley because you were asking me yesterday about him not making the numbers, also Florian [Wirtz], and I think both of them today played really, really well,” Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola told reporters. “I think they made a difference.
“Bradley, apart from the hat trick, I think he was a threat, always one-v-one, threatening in behind and also helped us a lot to control the game, finding the pockets, and I’m happy for, for both of them.
The 24-year-old scored with either foot in the first half to open his account for the club against opponents making their debut among Europe’s elite.
A far-post tap-in midway through the second half was the easiest of his three but by then his confidence was soaring, having missed a trio of chances in the win over Atlético Madrid last month.
“I think he has to enjoy this because to score a hat trick in the Champions League is always very difficult,” Iraola added. “Even yesterday in training I could feel he was very lively.
“Sometimes you feel these things and, you never know how he’s going to play next day, but it wasn’t like a big surprise because we were feeling he was in a good place before the game.”
While Barcola will grab the headlines, there was also a first Liverpool goal for Ronald Araújo following his loan signing from Barcelona, while 21-year-old forward Lewis Koumas scored for the first time in the Champions League.
Liverpool’s other goal came from Jeremie Frimpong, with Liverpool at one point holding a 6-1 lead.
LASK made the scoreline more respectable late on, thanks to a double from Florian Flecker.
The nine goals made it the highest-scoring European game for Liverpool since their 5-4 2001 UEFA Cup final win over Alavés.
Iraola’s side, who bounced back from a 3-0 Premier League loss to Manchester City on Sunday, have begun the Champions League with back-to-back wins, following their opening victory over Atlético.
Iraola dropped Virgil van Dijk to the substitutes’ bench on Wednesday with French defender Jérémy Jacquet starting. The Dutch star replaced Jacquet for the last half hour or so.
It was another central defender, Araújo, who broke the deadlock with a header from a corner, less than two minutes before Barcola got his first goal in the 24th from a lay-off by Koumas.
Ryan Gravenberch struck the post before Barcola got his second in the 37th, finishing with aplomb after being played through by Florian Wirtz.
Frimpong, one of the smallest players on the field, headed Liverpool’s fourth in off the right post in the 51st.
Robert Ljubičić pulled a goal back in the 63rd, a minute after going on as a substitute, before Frimpong gave Barcola a simple tap-in to complete his hat trick in the 66th.
Koumas was left free to get Liverpool’s sixth six minutes later, but Flecker — another substitute — got the biggest cheer when he scored his team’s second with a diving header in the 74th.
ESPN Research, The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
