LINZ — Lewis Koumas became the youngest player to score and assist in a Champions League match for Liverpool as Andoni Iraola's side beat LASK 6-3 at the Raiffeisen Arena on Wednesday. The 21-year-old Wales international struck at the third attempt after seeing two earlier efforts ruled out for offside, sealing a historic night alongside hat-trick hero Bradley Barcola.
Barcola, who left Linz with the match ball after his superb treble, was the first to celebrate with Koumas in front of the travelling supporters. The pair started together after a remarkable chain of events — Koumas spent last season on loan at Birmingham in the Championship while Barcola was at Paris St-Germain, who went on to win the Champions League for the second season in a row. Just three days after making his first Premier League start against Manchester City, with Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike all injured, Koumas eclipsed Steven Gerrard's 2001 record as Liverpool's youngest scorer and assister in the competition. "Is that official?" Koumas said. "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."
In a side where attention tends to be directed towards big-money names, Koumas provides a real feel-good story. He joined Liverpool aged 11 and scored on his first-team debut as an 18-year-old under Jurgen Klopp, before loan spells at Stoke, Birmingham and Hull, where he helped the Tigers win promotion last season. Iraola decided in the first week of pre-season that Koumas was part of his plans, and the forward made his Premier League debut at Newcastle before appearing against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and earning man of the match on his first start of the season against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, a display Iraola described as "contagious". Koumas, the son of former Wales midfielder Jason Koumas, went straight on a video call with his family after that night and again in Austria. "It was probably the best feeling in my career, 100%. I'm just really grateful to have the opportunity again," he said. "I would not have been a happy man [if I didn't score], I would have been gutted. I just kept going because I knew the more the game was going on, it was opening up. Going over to the fans at the end meant absolutely everything."
It has been quite a week for Koumas, who has started two Liverpool games in a row. At 0-0 against Manchester City on Sunday, Barcola played him through and he connected sweetly only for Gianluigi Donnarumma to keep his effort out in front of the Kop. "I couldn't really sleep [on Sunday]. I just kept thinking about the chance all night. I feel like I couldn't have hit it any better. The keeper is huge and he was just in the right place and I think in normal circumstances it goes in," he said. Koumas knows Isak and Gakpo will soon be back in contention — "You never know when your last game is going to be," he said — but he could lead the attack for a third time in seven days when Liverpool travel to Brentford on Saturday, with Iraola saying on Thursday it was "too early" to tell whether Isak or Gakpo would be available.
The manner in which he is seizing his opportunity is inspiring others. Liverpool's under-19s beat LASK's youngsters 4-2 in the Uefa Youth League on Wednesday, with 18-year-old Will Wright scoring a hat-trick. "You see Koumas with the first team and the energy he brings to the front line - that's from being in the academy, and Will has a similar identity," said Rob Page, Liverpool's academy boss. "We have a manager who has come in and has an identity about how he wants to play which suits a lot of the players. And they've seen a pathway there now: Rio [Ngumoha], Trey [Nyoni] and now Koumas." Koumas added: "We are getting chances but, ultimately, it is because we are good enough. Trey and Rio are unbelievable and, if you're good enough it doesn't matter how old you are."