LASK vs Liverpool 3-6 - Champions League Matchday 2 Match Report

LASK and Liverpool met at Raiffeisen Arena in the UEFA Champions League league phase, and the shape of the match explained the scoreline far better than the bare numbers do. LASK went down to 3-6 and spent the remainder of the evening trying to pull the game back. The turning point came at the 22 minute mark, when Ronald Araujo scored cleanly, and everything that followed was played in that new landscape. Liverpool won 3-6 and carried the points home. 18910 supporters filled Raiffeisen Arena, and the noise never really left the players alone. Neither side arrived in the best form: the last five results read W L L D L for LASK and W D W W L for Liverpool, and both sets of players knew what a slip would cost.

Match facts

• Date: 2026-10-14
• Kick-off: 16:45 UTC
• Venue: Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austria (19080)
• Attendance: 18910
• Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)
• Competition: UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 - Matchday 2
• Starting line-ups: LASK (5-4-1, Coach: Dietmar Kühbauer) / Liverpool (4-2-3-1, Coach: Andoni Iraola)
• Scorers: Robert Ljubičić 63'; Florian Flecker 74'; Florian Flecker 77'; Ronald Araujo 22'; Bradley Barcola 24'; Bradley Barcola 37'; Jeremie Frimpong 51'; Bradley Barcola 66'; Lewis Koumas 72'

LASK lined up with Lukas Jungwirth, Xavier Mbuyamba, Alemão, Andrés Andrade, Kasper Jørgensen, Yvan Dibango, Kryštof Daněk, Melayro Bogarde, Alessandro Schöpf, Christoph Lang, Samuel Adeniran in a 5-4-1, while Liverpool answered with Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong, Ronald Araujo, Jérémy Jacquet, Konstantinos Tsimikas, Trey Nyoni, Ryan Gravenberch, Rio Ngumoha, Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola, Lewis Koumas in a 4-2-3-1. Dietmar Kühbauer and Andoni Iraola led their respective sides from the touchline, and both had a plan for the first hour that they wanted to keep intact.

Goals and key moments

Goal details, minutes and scorers are the part of the record that separate one evening from another. At the 22' mark, Ronald Araujo scored cleanly, with Konstantinos Tsimikas supplying the pass that made it possible, and 0-1 was the consequence. It was a chance worth 0.071 expected goals, which is exactly why it was worth taking. 24': Bradley Barcola found the far corner, Lewis Koumas helping it over the line, and it was 0-2 almost immediately. 37': Bradley Barcola kept the composure the moment demanded, Florian Wirtz helping it over the line, and it was 0-3 almost immediately. 51': Jeremie Frimpong turned the move into the opening the team had been chasing, Konstantinos Tsimikas helping it over the line, and it was 0-4 almost immediately. 63': Robert Ljubičić struck it with quality, Yvan Dibango helping it over the line, and it was 1-4 almost immediately. 66': Bradley Barcola scored cleanly, Jeremie Frimpong helping it over the line, and it was 1-5 almost immediately. 72': Lewis Koumas found the far corner, Jeremie Frimpong helping it over the line, and it was 1-6 almost immediately. 74': Florian Flecker kept the composure the moment demanded, Yvan Dibango helping it over the line, and it was 2-6 almost immediately. 77': Florian Flecker turned the move into the opening the team had been chasing, Yvan Dibango helping it over the line, and it was 3-6 almost immediately. That strike changed the temperature of the evening: from that point the leading side could play for the counter while the chasing side had to take risks in the spaces that had opened up. Not every opening was taken, though, and the chances that were missed told their own story. Taken together, the goals gave the evening a shape that the scoreline on its own never explained.

The tactical picture

LASK started in 5-4-1 under Dietmar Kühbauer, while Liverpool answered with 4-2-3-1 under Andoni Iraola, and those two shapes decided most of what happened on the field. Neither manager was willing to hand the central ground over for free, and the shape of the game followed that refusal. The midfield was the part of the pitch both sides wanted, and the numbers show who managed to take it. The side that pressed high won the second ball, which left the other team unable to build from the back and forced them into hopeful passes. The width of the pitch worked against the team that kept attacking down the same flank, and they were closed down every time. Transitions were the story: one side moved the ball forward at speed, the other could not. The tactical conversation between the two benches was as much a part of the evening as the movement of the ball itself.

Tactical reading

LASK set up in a 5-4-1 against the 4-2-3-1 of Liverpool, and the two shapes decided how the ball actually moved: LASK completed 310 passes at 81% accuracy while Liverpool answered with 575 and 91%.

Statistical comparison

The statistical picture is as revealing as the scoreline itself. Expected goals told the sharper story: 2.04 for LASK against 3.25 for Liverpool. LASK attempted 12 shots to Liverpool's 26, with 4 on target against 9. Possession finished at 36 per cent for LASK against 64 per cent for Liverpool, and it is worth noting which side actually used it. LASK won 3 corners to Liverpool's 11, and that is where most of the set-piece danger came from. LASK completed 251 of 310 passes against 523 of 575 for Liverpool, a difference that shows how differently the two sides circulated the ball. Fouls were committed 7 times by LASK and 4 by Liverpool, with 0 and 0 red cards in the official count. The goalkeepers made 2 and 1 saves respectively, and on a night like this that work decides how the result is remembered. The duels went 30 to 37, which is usually the cleanest single indicator of who was prepared to spend effort on the ball. Tackles were completed 17 times by LASK and 5 by Liverpool, and the duels that followed tell the same story as the rest of the evening.

Discipline and substitutions

Discipline and substitutions shaped the second half more than the scoreline suggests. LASK collected 1 yellow cards and Liverpool 0, and the caution count of 1 in total meant the referee had to manage a game that was becoming increasingly physical around the halfway line. Both coaches used their changes: 5 by LASK and 5 by Liverpool, with the last substitution of the evening coming late. The emotional temperature of the evening rose and fell with the challenges and with the decisions taken by both benches. Tobias Stieler took charge of the match and had a relatively straightforward evening by the standards of the competition.

Player of the match and the standout performers

Individual performances separated the two teams across a full ninety minutes. Bradley Barcola of Liverpool was the player of the match with a rating of 9.7, and every touch that mattered carried his name on it. For LASK, the best individual rating belonged to Yvan Dibango, and for Liverpool it belonged to Bradley Barcola. The gap between the best performances on each side was the reason the result never really looked as comfortable as it was. Across the two squads the highest individual ratings read Bradley Barcola (9.72), Yvan Dibango (9.27), Jeremie Frimpong (9.04), Konstantinos Tsimikas (8.80).

What the result means for the league phase

LASK on points from 3 matches, in 24 place with a goal difference of -3, and Liverpool on points from 3 matches, in 3 place with a goal difference of 5. LASK arrived with W L L D L in their last five and Liverpool with W D W W L, so the result fits the run both of them have been on. For the winner the three points are banked and the group is a shade closer to settled; for the other side the work still to be done, and this result has made that plain. What the numbers cannot show is how hard the result was worked for, and how differently the two sides will remember it. The next round of the league phase will tell more: whoever adjusts first in the coming days will be the one who controls the group.