VIENNA: Liverpool’s Bradley Barcola scored his first goals for the club with a hat-trick as they swept aside Champions League newcomers LASK 6-3 on Wednesday, spoiling the Austrian side’s first home game in Europe’s elite club competition.

Ronald Araujo also opened his Liverpool account, while Jeremie Frimpong headed home and Lewis Koumas scored ⁠after twice being ⁠denied by the offside flag as Andoni Iraola’s side responded emphatically to Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League defeat by Manchester City.

That match was City’s first since being ⁠found guilty of 114 breaches of financial rules and they host two-time defending champions Paris St. Germain later on Wednesday.

Barcola’s hat-trick offered some welcome relief after a slow start to his Liverpool career, with the French forward facing growing scrutiny following his big-money move.

Iraola will ⁠be ⁠less satisfied with Liverpool’s defensive display after Florian Flecker struck twice in three second-half minutes and Robert Ljubicic also scored for LASK.

Liverpool began their campaign with a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid, while LASK suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat by AEK Athens in their opener in September.