LINZ, Austria (AP) — Bradley Barcola scored his first goal for Liverpool on Wednesday.
He quickly followed with two more for a hat trick.
Barcola, who joined Liverpool from European Champion Paris Saint-Germain in the offseason, clearly relished being back on the European stage as he scored three goals in Liverpool’s 6-3 Champions League win at Austrian champion LASK in Linz.
Liverpool said Barcola was the club's 13th player to score a hat trick in the European Cup, as the competition was previously called.
“I think he played so well today, not just with the goals but also with chances," Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola said in quotes published by UEFA.
Pressure had been building on the France forward after the club’s marquee signing had not scored or set up any goals in four Premier League appearances. Barcola joined from PSG in the biggest deal of the summer transfer window, worth 123 million pounds ($166 million), but had not made an immediate impact — unlike some of his predecessors at Liverpool, like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Luis Suárez and Fernando Torres.
Barcola answered on the field Wednesday, getting his first goal from a lay-off by Lewis Koumas after a fine run from Rio Ngumoha.
He got his second before the break, finishing with aplomb after being played in by Florian Wirtz.
Jeremie Frimpong gave Barcola a simple tap-in to complete his hat trick in the 66th.
He had another shot blocked before he made way for Víctor Muñoz in the 73rd.
“I could feel it already yesterday in training,” Iraola said. "Sometimes you feel it when a player is in the zone, and fortunately for us he showed the level that he’s got.”
Liverpool next faces Brentford away in the Premier League on Saturday.
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The Associated Press