By Talk about timing. Just one day after Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola was grilled about whether Bradley Barcola was living up to his price tag, the French winger responded the only way he knows how — with a stunning Champions League hat-trick in a 6-3 demolition of LASK in Linz.
Bradley Barcola (Credits: BBC Sport)
First Career Hat-Trick on Appearance 238
On the 238th appearance of his career across club and country, the 24-year-old scored his first-ever hat-trick — and what a time to do it. Two fine finishes with his right foot and left foot, followed by a tap-in after the break, made Barcola just the fifth Liverpool player to score a hat-trick away from home in the European Cup or Champions League.
The £123m signing had endured a stuttering start to his Anfield career, and the pressure was squarely on him going into the LASK clash. His partner in that scrutiny, Florian Wirtz (£116m), also delivered a fine display with an assist.
Iraola’s Smile Says It All
A little over 24 hours after insisting he trusted his big-money signings “100%”, Iraola couldn’t hide his delight. “You were asking me yesterday about him not making the numbers… I think both of them today played really, really well. They made a difference,” he said. “For their confidence it’s very good. I think they feel now that we trust them a lot.”
Iraola added that Barcola has to enjoy the moment: “To score a hat-trick in the Champions League is always very difficult.” He even claimed he sensed it coming in training: “Even yesterday in training, I could feel he was very lively.”
Liverpool’s Record-Breaking First Half
Liverpool were relentless early on, racing into a three-goal lead. Their 19 shots by half time was the most on record since 2003-04 by any team in the first half of a Champions League away match. There was a complacent second half — Liverpool conceded three goals after the hour mark — but the job was done.
There were positives everywhere: Jeremie Frimpong scored and assisted twice, Kostas Tsimikas added two assists, Ronald Araujo scored his first club goal, and Lewis Koumas (21y 25d) became Liverpool’s youngest player to score and assist in a Champions League match, beating Steven Gerrard’s record from 2001.
The win got Liverpool back on track after Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City. Barcola’s next test: carrying that form into the Premier League, starting with Saturday’s visit to Brentford.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
