The night everything clicked in Linz

There are moments that crystallise a career, and Lewis Koumas found his in Austria. Liverpool's 6-3 knockabout win over LASK at the Raiffeisen Arena was already done and dusted when Koumas finally got on the scoresheet, but his goal capped a performance that had already included an assist for the first of Bradley Barcola's hat-trick. Twice he had seen efforts ruled out for marginal offside calls. Twice he had refused to sulk. That persistence is starting to look like a trait rather than a one-off.

The scene afterwards told its own story. At Linz Airport, as the first team waited to board their flight back to Merseyside, Koumas was met with a stream of high fives from players and staff who had watched him come through the Academy. He had earned them. By netting on his full Champions League debut, the 21-year-old became only the second player aged 21 or under to both score and assist in a Champions League match for Liverpool, joining a certain Steven Gerrard, who did it against Dynamo Kyiv 25 years earlier.

Koumas reacts to being mentioned alongside a Kop legend

"Am I? Is that official?" was Koumas's immediate response when told of the Gerrard comparison. "It's not a bad stat, is it? And it's not a bad name to be alongside. Wow. What a legend. I just want more of this." He then grounded himself just as quickly: "I'm loving how things are going but this is also my job. I need to get goals and assists, I hadn't had any before Linz so it was really important to get them."

He also admitted the two disallowed goals would not have been easily forgotten had he not found the net. "Oh my God! I would not have been a happy man, I would have been gutted," he said. Going over to the travelling supporters at the full-time whistle clearly meant a great deal to him. "They are the reason we do this and that we want this sort of job. They mean everything to us. I wish I could have got in there with them but there was a big metal cage in the way! It was the best feeling in my career, 100%." Hard to argue with that.

From sleepless nights over City to starting at Brentford

The LASK goal was Koumas's first for the club since he scored on his senior debut in an FA Cup win over Southampton back in February 2024, with loan spells at Stoke City, Birmingham City and Hull City filling the gap in between. It might have come a few days earlier, but a fine save from Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma denied him at the weekend, a moment that clearly lingered. "I was thinking about the chance all night. I couldn't really sleep. I feel like I couldn't have hit it any better," he admitted. "The keeper is huge and he was just in the right place."

Koumas was one of four players aged 21 or under to start against LASK, alongside fellow Academy graduates Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha and £60million Jeremy Jacquet, making it Liverpool's third-youngest ever Champions League starting XI. He was full of praise for his young teammates, singling out Nyoni in particular: "Look at Trey, how mature he is and how he manages the game. He dictates how the game is going to go. He's 19! He shows levels all the time."

Keeping his head as Isak and Gakpo close in

With doubts remaining over the fitness of Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, Koumas could be in line for a third straight start when Liverpool travel to Brentford on Saturday. He is under no illusions about the situation, though. "You never know when your last game is going to be. I know that sounds like a cliche but it is true. Alex will be back soon training, Cody will be fit soon," he said. "But I just have to keep working hard, keep my head and doing what the gaffer asks of me and make it last as long as I can."

That kind of clarity at 21 is encouraging. Whether he gets his Brentford start or finds himself back on the bench when the senior strikers return, Koumas has at least shown the Anfield faithful exactly what he is capable of, and he's made clear he has every intention of showing them more.