Liverpool striker Bradley Barcola finally announced himself in red, scoring his first goals for the club — a stunning hat-trick — in a 6-3 Champions League win over LASK at the Raiffeisen Arena on Wednesday night. The $161 million August signing ended a six-game goalless drought in style, completing his first senior treble in his 206th senior appearance, on only his seventh outing for the Reds.
A first senior hat-trick on his seventh appearance
Barcola struck twice before the interval — in the 24th and 37th minutes — after fellow summer arrival Ronald Araújo had opened the scoring with a 22nd-minute header, then completed his treble in the 66th minute. Assisted by Florian Wirtz for his second and Jeremie Frimpong for his third, the 24-year-old scored with either foot and looked every inch the $161 million footballer Liverpool thought they had signed. Manager Andoni Iraola, who had said before the match he had "100 per cent" trust in Barcola and Wirtz, was delighted: "I'm really happy for Bradley because you were asking me yesterday about him not making the numbers... I think both of them today played really, really well."
Four Reds open their accounts in Linz
It was a night of firsts across the side. Araújo's opener was his first Liverpool goal, Jeremie Frimpong's 51st-minute header was his first (he also set up two more), and Lewis Koumas — leading the line in Alexander Isak's absence — netted his first Champions League goal in the 72nd minute after seeing two earlier efforts ruled out for offside. LASK, playing their first-ever home game in the Champions League proper, refused to roll over: substitutes Robert Ljubičić (63') and Florian Flecker (74', 77') struck three times in 11 second-half minutes, adding gloss to a score that flattered the hosts after Liverpool had led 6-1.
Record intact — but questions linger at the back
The win keeps Liverpool's 100% league-phase record intact — two from two, after September's 2-1 opener against Atlético Madrid — and was the perfect response to Sunday's 3-0 Premier League defeat at home to Manchester City, Iraola's first defeat in eight games. Yet the three goals conceded after Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez came on will concern the manager: Liverpool set a record with 19 first-half shots as an away team in a Champions League game, but shipped three in the second half. The Reds remain ninth in the Premier League with nine points from six games, and Barcola still has everything to prove domestically — but this hat-trick is exactly the statement a $161 million signing had to make.
Liverpool host Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, October 17, before Villarreal visit Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday, October 20.
Watch: Full highlights of Liverpool's 6-3 Champions League win over LASK, with Bradley Barcola's hat-trick.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Five Armies (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0