With Virgil van Dijk initially on the bench, Tsimikas wore the armband in a competitive match for the first time in his Liverpool career. He supplied corners for Ronald Araújo’s opener and later crossed for Jeremie Frimpong, while Koumas made his first Champions League start count after two goals had been ruled out for offside.
Tsimikas celebrated the occasion in a heartfelt Instagram post.
“Representing my dream club, on a Champions League night, as a captain, with a win and some assists serving?!
> “Little Kostas, we made it happen, kid. Never stop dreaming and believing, guys.
“Dreams can come true. I made some of mine come true today and it feels great. I am so grateful.”
Koumas was delighted to score in the competition, particularly after the frustration of seeing earlier efforts disallowed.
“It’s a good win but ultimately \[it was about\] the reaction from the last game to try and bounce back. I thought we did that well and we need to try and take that into the weekend now,” he told Liverpoolfc.com.
“It’s nice to get a goal in this competition - the highest level of football. I’m really happy.”
The forward explained that staying composed had helped him finally find the net late in the match.
“I think it’s important as a striker... you can’t dwell on the misses or the chances that you get and don’t take. The two were offside and I was just waiting for the next one to come - and it came really late on. That’s why it’s important to keep level-headed.”
Koumas was also pleased to see Bradley Barcola score a hat-trick after a difficult start following his move to England.
“I think it’s been really hard for him - not in terms of on the pitch because in the changing room we all know how good he is. But moving country and trying to settle in fast is tough. I found it tough on loan so changing country completely must be something else. I’m just really happy that he’s shown how good he is tonight. Hopefully he just carries on doing it now.”
Koumas added: “He’s unbelievable. He’s an unbelievable talent and I’m sure he’ll be unreal for Liverpool.”
Liverpool scored through Araújo, Barcola’s hat-trick, Frimpong and Koumas, while Robert Ljubičić and Florian Flecker, who struck twice, replied for LASK. Despite conceding three goals, Koumas was pleased the Reds secured the win.
“That’s football. I think we really wanted the clean sheet but sometimes we’ve just got to see the game out and win - we’re really happy we’ve done that.”