Liverpool summer signing Bradley Barcola came good in stunning fashion as Liverpool beat LASK 6-3 in the Champions League, the Frenchman scoring his first club hat-trick.
After his £123million summer move from Paris Saint-Germain, Barcola has struggled to show his worth. Indeed, Liverpool fans have rarely had sight of the player they felt they were getting after such a large outlay.
In six games prior to the Champions League thumping of LASK, Barcola had failed to score or assist.
He rectified that and then some in the European match, netting his first goal inside 25 minutes and a second 13 minutes later, before completing his hat-trick in the 66th minute.
For his first goal, Barcola was in the right place at the right time, peeling off his marker in the box to only need a first-time finish on goal. For his second, the winger drove at the defence, offloaded to Florian Wirtz and then carried on his run to beat the last defender, with a perfect first touch setting up an easy finish.
For his third, Barcola again made a great run, this time off the ball, at the back post, crashing into the box for Jeremie Frimpong to find him in open space with a cross directly to his right boot to complete his hat-trick.
The stats show just how dominant Barcola was against the Austrian side. His five shots were the second most of the game - four were on target - and he was able to make those opportunities with 19 touches inside the opposition box. The next most in the game was seven.
Barcola made two chances and one big chance. Everything he did in the game came good - and he dominated in just 73 minutes of action. The Frenchman was dispossessed only once in that time.
Andoni Iraola feels Bradley Barcola has shown his level
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola feels the hat-trick is a sign of things to come from his big-money signing.
He said: "I think he played so well today and not just the goals. He had more chances to score, he was always a threat attacking the spaces in behind.
"In training, sometimes you feel when a player is in the zone, and fortunately, tonight for us, he has shown the level that he has."
Iraola was also pleased with Wirtz, who had the second-most touches in the LASK box, the most shots in the game, and picked up an assist for Barcola.
The Liverpool boss said: "I think he was amazing in possession.
"I think he had lively passes, good assists, he helped us to control the game. Especially in the first half where he was roaming around and finding good spots."
