Liverpool's full-backs set up four goals and Barcola scored a hat-trick. Then LASK scored three in 14 minutes.
The numbers
| Liverpool | LASK | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 64% | 36% |
| Shots | 26 | 12 |
| xG | 3.25 | 2.04 |
| Touches in opp. box | 52 | 24 |
Result the chances deserved: Liverpool 62% / 16% / LASK 22% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson, Frimpong, Araújo, Jacquet, Tsimikas, Nyoni, Gravenberch, Ngumoha, Wirtz, Barcola, Koumas.
LASK (3-4-3): Jungwirth, Tornich, Andrade, Jørgensen, Mbuyamba, Bogarde, Schöpf, Dibango, Daněk, Adeniran, Lang.
LASK subs: Flecker (half-time, Jørgensen), Ljubičić (62', Bogarde), Kalajdžić & Elfadli (71', Adeniran & Schöpf), Kane (82', Lang). LASK coach: Dietmar Kühbauer.
Card: Elfadli (FotMob 77', Bundesliga.com 80'). Koumas had two goals ruled out for offside and Gravenberch hit the post. Line-ups and minutes from FotMob and Bundesliga.com. FotMob lists LASK's No. 43 as Alemão; Bundesliga.com and Bulinews name him João Tornich. FotMob has LASK in a 5-4-1 and Bundesliga.com in a 5-3-2; we show five at the back as a 3-4-3, with Mbuyamba and Dibango as wing-backs (sides from FotMob's line-up order). Attendance 18,910 (FotMob).
Key moments, move by move
- Tsimikas, captain for the night, swings in a corner.
- Araújo rises highest in the middle of the six-yard box.
- His header beats Jungwirth: his first goal for Liverpool.
- Ngumoha runs at LASK's defence from the right and gets into the box.
- He is stopped (Flashscore says he may have had a penalty), and the ball breaks to Koumas.
- Koumas plays it across to Barcola.
- Barcola sweeps it past Jungwirth into the left-hand corner (Opta Analyst): his first goal for Liverpool, in his seventh game.
- Barcola gives it to Wirtz and keeps running.
- Wirtz, drifting inside, plays it straight back into his path.
- Barcola gets beyond his marker and finishes from close range.
- Tsimikas carries the ball down the left to the byline.
- He lofts a cross towards the far post.
- Frimpong, the right-back, arrives there and heads into the bottom corner.
- Ljubičić has just come on for Bogarde.
- Dibango finds him in the box.
- First touch to control, second to drill it past Alisson: LASK's first Champions League goal.
- Frimpong gets forward on the right again.
- He plays the ball across the box.
- Barcola arrives and finishes neatly: his first senior hat-trick.
- Frimpong is free on the right once more.
- His cross finds Koumas in the middle of the box.
- Koumas scuffs it through Jungwirth's legs: his first Champions League goal, after two were ruled out for offside.
- Dibango has the ball wide for LASK.
- He lifts it towards the far post.
- Flecker, on at half-time, dives in and heads it into an empty net.
- Three minutes later Dibango has it again.
- His ball into the box finds Flecker.
- Flecker controls it and finishes into the corner with his right foot.
Two full-backs and a roaming Wirtz against a back five
- LASK's shape. Dietmar Kühbauer's side defended with five at the back: a 5-4-1 on FotMob, a 5-3-2 on Bundesliga.com. Liverpool had 64% of the ball, 26 shots to 12 and 52 touches in LASK's box to 24 (FotMob).
- Full-backs as wingers. Tsimikas, captain for the first time, set up Araújo from a corner and Frimpong from the byline, and created six chances (Opta Analyst). Frimpong set up Barcola and Koumas from the right. Four of the six goals came from the two full-backs.
- Wirtz between the lines. Iraola said Wirtz helped "to control the game, finding the pockets" (PA); he set up Barcola's second. Liverpool had 19 first-half shots, the most by an away team in a Champions League first half (Opta Analyst). Koumas had two goals ruled out for offside and Gravenberch hit the post.
- The last half-hour. At 62', 4–0 up, Iraola replaced both centre-backs, Araújo and Jacquet, with Gomez and Van Dijk. LASK scored a minute later and twice more at 74' and 77', all three from Dibango passes (FotMob). Iraola: "We didn't defend properly at the end of the game."
Tactical scenes
Against five defenders, Liverpool's full-backs played as extra wingers. Tsimikas reached the byline on the left and Frimpong kept arriving on the right, so each LASK wing-back had a Liverpool winger and full-back to deal with. The crosses and the corner came from them.
Evidence: Tsimikas and Frimpong assisted 4 of Liverpool's 6 goals, 2 each (FotMob); Tsimikas created 6 chances (Opta Analyst). FotMob match page · Opta Analyst · Bundesliga.com live ticker (assists)
At 4–0, Iraola took off both centre-backs at once. Within a minute LASK had scored, and Dibango kept finding space to play balls into Liverpool's box: one to Ljubičić, two to Flecker at the far post and in the box. Iraola said the manager probably shouldn't have changed both.
Evidence: LASK scored three times in 14 minutes after the 62' changes, all three assisted by Dibango (FotMob, Bundesliga.com). FotMob match page · Bundesliga.com live ticker · Soccernews: Iraola
Recreate it in FM26
Liverpool · Iraola's full-back overloads against a back five · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Iraola's full-back overloads against a back five
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Alisson | Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper |
| RB | Frimpong | Advanced Wing-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Araújo | Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Jacquet | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Tsimikas | Wing-Back | Full-Back |
| RDM | Nyoni | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Screening Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Gravenberch | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Ngumoha | Winger | Tracking Winger |
| AM | Wirtz | Free Role | Tracking Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Barcola | Inside Forward | Inside Outlet Winger |
| ST | Koumas | Channel Forward | Tracking Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Supporting RunsBoth Flanks
- Attacking WidthWider
- Creative FreedomMore Expressive
- TempoHigher
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Defensive LineHigher
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
The idea: Two full-backs who can cross, a Free Role No 10 drifting between the lines and an Inside Forward arriving at the back post. Against a back five, each wing-back then has two men to watch.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't make players switch off at 4–0, but a high line with both full-backs up leaves the same space behind: drop the line yourself once the game is won.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Formation 4-3-3, Only Van Dijk at 62' (for Jacquet); Araújo stays, Mac Allister on at 62' (for Nyoni), not 85'. Keep the attacking plan, change one centre-back instead of two, and bring Mac Allister on at 4–0 to slow the game. Liverpool still win easily; LASK probably score once, not three times. It moves Liverpool's win chance from 62% to 74% (xG 3.25–2.04 becomes 3.25–1.34). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Liverpool needed
Alexis Mac Allister
Liverpool were 4–0 up at 62' and then lost the last half-hour 2–3. Mac Allister keeps the ball and screens in front of the centre-backs. On at the hour instead of five minutes from time, he slows a game that had opened up and protects two centre-backs who had just come on.
Declan Rice
LASK scored three in 14 minutes once the game opened, each from a Dibango pass into the box. Rice screens in front of the back four, tracks runners into the box and slows the game when his side is ahead: the job nobody did for Liverpool after 4–0.
What the analysts said
“Bradley apart from the hat-trick, I think he was a threat always – one-v-one, threatening in behind.”Andoni Iraola (PA, via Irish Examiner)
“Also Flo helped us a lot to control the game, finding the pockets.”Andoni Iraola (PA, via Irish Examiner)
“We didn't defend properly at the end of the game.”Andoni Iraola (Soccernews)
“Probably the reason why the manager shouldn't change both centre-backs…”Andoni Iraola on the late goals (Soccernews)
“You could see that Liverpool are simply above us. We have to learn from these games.”Dietmar Kühbauer (Salzburg24, translated from German)
Liverpool took a back five apart from the flanks, then forgot to defend.
What's happening. Liverpool won 6–3 in Linz three days after losing 3–0 to Man City. It is two wins from two in the league phase. They were 4–0 up after 51 minutes. LASK then scored three times in 14 minutes, all set up by Dibango.
How it works. A back five covers the width of the box, but its wing-backs have two jobs. Liverpool pushed both full-backs up beside the wingers and let Wirtz drift into the pockets, so each LASK wing-back had two men to watch. Tsimikas and Frimpong set up four goals between them. The cost came later: with both full-backs high and two fresh centre-backs, the space behind was LASK's way in.
What the shots say. FotMob has Liverpool well ahead on xG, with a record 19 shots before half-time. One reading: a mismatch, and six goals were about right. The other: LASK's xG is high for a side with a third of the ball, and much of it came after 4–0. Both fit. Liverpool controlled the game early and switched off late.