Bradley Barcola’s first ever hattrick in the UEFA Champions League led Liverpool to a 6-3 win over LASK Linz in the UCL league phase match in Austria.
The French winger acquired in a big money summer move from UCL champions Paris Saint-Germain stole the show on a night all Liverpool goalscorers were hitting the net for the first time for the club.
He joined Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Frimpong and youngster Lewis Koumas as the goalscorers for Andoni Iraola’s side, while Robert Ljubicic and Florian Flecker (brace) scored the home side’s consolation goals.
Araujo powered home a header to put Liverpool ahead before Barcola netted his hattrick by sweeping home the first, slotting home a Florian Wirtz pass for his second, before completing his hattrick with another clean strike at the far post after the hour.
Frimpong planted a header into the bottom corner for his first goal for the club, and he turned provider for younger Koumas to become the latest Anfield youngster to score for the club.
Flecker’s late brace was consolation for the hosts who continued poor record of defeat in all three meetings against Liverpool, and maintained Austrian clubs’ poor history of failing to win against English opponents since 1991.
Andoni Iraola’s side made it two wins in the opening matches of the UCL with six points accrued. They return to the league to face Brentford this weekend, before facing Villarreal in their next UCL match at Anfield next week.
