Six Goals Scored, Three Conceded: A Night of Thrills and Warnings for Liverpool
Liverpool produced one of their most entertaining European nights in years, and one of their most alarming, beating LASK 6-3 in Linz to make it back-to-back wins in this season’s Champions League. Bradley Barcola, short of goals since his big money move from Paris Saint-Germain, finally scored the hat-trick that supporters had been waiting for, but conceding three goals against limited opposition means the celebrations come with a health warning attached.
Our reading of the opening exchanges is that this was a Liverpool side finally given license to play with some freedom. Andoni Iraola pushed Ryan Gravenberch further forward, used Trey Nyoni as the deepest midfielder, let Florian Wirtz roam into pockets of space, and asked Jeremie Frimpong to provide width, and the visitors tore into LASK from almost the first whistle.
Barcola finally delivers
Six appearances without a goal had made Barcola an easy target for criticism, fair or not, given the size of the fee involved. Ronald Araújo nodded Liverpool ahead from a Kostas Tsimikas corner after 22 minutes, and Barcola doubled the lead soon after when Rio Ngumoha’s run created the space for Lewis Koumas to lay the ball into his path. From there the Frenchman barely stopped scoring. A close range finish from Wirtz’s pass made it 3-0 before the break, and a simple finish from Frimpong’s low delivery completed the treble in the second half. For a player who has looked weighed down by expectation since he arrived, this was about as complete an answer as he could have given.
Youth shows the way
If Barcola provided the headline, Liverpool’s younger players provided the substance. Nyoni, Ngumoha and Koumas started together in one of the youngest attacking lines this club has fielded in the competition, and all three justified the faith shown in them. Koumas was denied twice by the offside flag before finally getting the goal his persistence deserved, converting first time for the sixth. Ngumoha offered pace and directness down the right and had a hand in two of the goals, while Nyoni’s distribution from a deep midfield role was composed well beyond his years.
Iraola had talked up his faith in his expensive attacking recruits before kick-off, insisting he still had “one hundred per cent” belief in them, and both Barcola and Wirtz repaid that trust directly on the night.
The warning signs remain
Four goals up shortly after half-time through a Frimpong header, the game had the feel of a rout, and when Barcola and Koumas made it six, a comfortable, low-stress evening beckoned. Then Robert Ljubicic pulled one back, and substitute Florian Flecker struck twice in the closing stages to turn a one-sided scoreline into something considerably more uncomfortable to watch. The same vulnerabilities that have undermined Liverpool for much of this season resurfaced at the worst possible moment: concentration dropped, the pressing became sporadic, and Frimpong’s side of the pitch in particular was repeatedly exposed.
Conceding three goals against a side so comprehensively outplayed for long periods cannot simply be waved away as an insignificant footnote, however impressive the overall performance was. Iraola’s system demands courage and defensive discipline from his players at the same time, and when both are present, as they were for long stretches in Linz, Liverpool look capable of running through almost anyone. When either one slips, the gaps left behind are significant.
What we take from Austria
Two wins from two in this Champions League campaign, and a front three finally finding some form, will do plenty for confidence heading into the weekend. Barcola looks like a transformed player when given license to run in behind, Wirtz is growing into the side with every outing, and the emerging group of academy talent offers genuine encouragement for the years ahead.
But Saturday’s trip to Brentford will tell us far more about where this Liverpool side really stands. Scoring six goals against a team of LASK’s level is one thing. Doing it while also tightening up defensively against English Premier League opposition is quite another. On this evidence, Iraola has the attacking pieces to build something exciting. Whether he can sort out the defending quickly enough remains the question that matters most.