Barcola scores first career hat-trick as Liverpool beat LASK 6-3

Bradley Barcola scored the first hat-trick of his career as Liverpool beat LASK 6-3 in the Champions League in Linz. According to BBC Sport's match coverage, the France forward reached the milestone on his 238th appearance across club and international football. The victory brought Liverpool back to winning ways following their 3-0 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday.

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Barcola scored with both his right and left foot before completing his treble with a close-range finish after the interval. Liverpool established a three-goal lead in the first half and registered 19 shots before the break. BBC Sport reported that this was the highest first-half shot total recorded by an away team in the Champions League since the available records began in 2003-04.

The other Liverpool goals came from Jeremie Frimpong, Ronald Araujo and Lewis Koumas. Frimpong also supplied two assists, while fellow full-back Kostas Tsimikas contributed another two. Araujo's goal was his first for Liverpool since joining in the summer. Those contributions accompanied Barcola's three goals on a night when Liverpool scored six times away to the Austrian Bundesliga champions.

Koumas added a separate milestone to the result. Having assisted Barcola before scoring in the second half, he became Liverpool's youngest player to register both a goal and an assist in the same Champions League match, aged 21 years and 25 days. The previous youngest was Steven Gerrard, who had done so against Dynamo Kyiv in 2001 at 21 years and 139 days. Koumas also had two goals disallowed for offside.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola praised Barcola and Florian Wirtz after the match, having faced questions about both players' early-season form beforehand. Wirtz supplied an assist against LASK. Iraola said the pair had made an important contribution and expressed hope that the performance would strengthen their confidence. He highlighted Barcola's effectiveness in individual duels, his movement behind defenders and his work finding space.

The scoreline also reflected a less controlled second half for Liverpool. All three LASK goals came after the hour mark, following the visitors' dominant opening period. LASK had entered the match without a win in four games. Liverpool nevertheless finished with a three-goal margin, with Barcola taking the match ball after his first career treble.