Liverpool winger Bradley Barcola - copyright TEAMtalk
Liverpool winger Bradley Barcola
Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembele and Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike are among those who have praised Bradley Barcola for his hat-trick against LASK, with Reds manager Andoni Iraola also giving his verdict on the French star.
Liverpool eased past LASK 6-3 at the Raiffeisen Arena in the Champions League on Wednesday evening – and the media were not shy in waxing lyrical about the hat-trick hero.
Barcola, who joined Liverpool from PSG for £123million in the summer transfer window, was the star of the show.
The 24-year-old France international winger scored a hat-trick for the Premier League club.
It was Barcola’s first goals for Liverpool since his summer move.
After the game, the winger posted a couple of his photos from the match on Instagram.
Barcola’s former PSG teammate Dembele responded by saying: ‘mon chouchou’, which means ‘my favourite’.
Liverpool teammate Ekitike wrote: “They will understand!”
Jeremie Frimpong posted: “Amazinggg”.
Alexander Isak noted: “TOP”
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Andoni Iraola praises Liverpool winger Bradley Barcola
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has also praised Barcola for his heroics against LASK.
Iraola said: “I’m really happy for Bradley because you were asking me yesterday about him not making the numbers, also Florian [Wirtz].
“I think both of them today played really, really well.
“I think they made a difference.
“Bradley apart from the hat-trick, I think he was a threat always – one-v-one, threatening in behind.
“Also Flo helped us a lot to control the game, finding the pockets.
“I’m happy for both of them.”
The Liverpool boss added: “I think their confidence, for sure, is very good.
“I think they feel that we trust them a lot.
“But at the end, to enjoy a little bit playing in the Champions League away, I think it’s going to be very good for them.”
Iraola was also asked about his message to Barcola now.
The Liverpool boss noted: “Obviously I think he has to enjoy this because to score a hat-trick in the Champions League is always very difficult.
“I think even [in] training yesterday, I could feel he was very lively – sometimes you feel these things.
“You never know how he’s going to play the next day, but it wasn’t like a big surprise because we were feeling he was in a good place for the game.”
Liverpool forward Lewis Koumas said about Barcola after his hat-trick: “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’s 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.”
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