The wait is over for Barcola

Six league and cup appearances without a goal. Six matches of mounting pressure and growing scrutiny on a £123 million signing who had yet to show Anfield what he could do. On a chilly night in Austria, Bradley Barcola answered every last question in one breathtaking evening, scoring the first senior hat-trick of his career as Liverpool swept past LASK of Linz 6-3 in the Champions League.

The relief was visible. After his well-taken first goal on 24 minutes, Barcola celebrated with the kind of unburdened joy that tells you everything about what those six quiet weeks had felt like. A two-time Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain, this is a player who knows exactly what these European nights demand, and he delivered something close to the perfect response to Sunday's chastening Premier League defeat to Manchester City.

Wirtz finally delivers, and Iraola is vindicated

Andoni Iraola had gone into this fixture on record as having 100% trust in both Barcola and fellow big-money arrival Florian Wirtz. That is the kind of public statement of faith that can come back to haunt a manager if it goes unheeded, and for much of this early season Wirtz had offered more glimpses than substance. Not here. This was easily his best performance under Iraola, a display of relentless creativity that culminated in a disguised pass threading Barcola through for his second goal on 37 minutes.

With Iraola's attacking options thinned considerably by the injury list, the timing of this contribution from the £116 million man could hardly have been more important. When your two most expensive players stand up on a big European occasion, it changes the mood around a club. Tonight did exactly that.

Young Liverpool make their mark

The goals and the headlines belong to Barcola, but there was a broader story being written in Austria. Trey Nyoni and Lewis Koumas both made their first Champions League starts, aged 18 and 20 respectively, and neither looked out of place. Koumas capped the night by sweeping home Liverpool's sixth from a Jeremie Frimpong cross, and the noise that greeted it from the travelling support suggested the supporters know they are watching something worth nurturing.

Rio Ngumoha also impressed, his driving run and persistence in the build-up directly creating the situation from which Barcola opened his account. These are young players stepping into a very large gap left by injuries, and they are not wilting under it. Ronald Araujo got Liverpool up and running with a powerful header from a Kostas Tsimikas delivery, with Tsimikas himself wearing the captain's armband on his first Champions League start since January. Frimpong also chipped in with a header to make it four before setting up Barcola's third.

What this win means, and what comes next

The defensive lapses in the final quarter will not escape Iraola's attention. LASK pulled it back to 5-3 at one stage before Koumas restored the two-goal cushion, and allowing a limited side to score three is not something Liverpool can repeat against stronger opposition. The scoreline reads as a comfortable evening; the final 20 minutes were anything but.

Still, Liverpool maintain their 100% record in the Champions League this season, and Barcola left the stadium clutching the matchball, signed by every member of the squad. Nine games in 29 days is the stretch that now awaits this squad, and how Iraola manages his resources through it will define a large chunk of their season. Tonight, though, belongs to a player who finally let the weight drop from his shoulders, and the Reds will be hoping that ball tucked under his arm is merely the first of many mementoes.