Andoni Iraola said that both Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola have had good and bad games this season, but the Liverpool boss gave his “100% trust” in the big-money duo. 

Iraola’s comments came ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League clash against LASK on Wednesday, where they will be hoping to build on their winning start in Europe. 

But the Reds come into the clash at Raiffeisen Arena off the back of a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at Anfield, with Ryan Gravenberch’s red card turning the contest on its head. 

Up until Gravenberch’s dismissal, Liverpool had looked dangerous, though it was through the performances of Lewis Koumas and Victor Munoz, rather than Wirtz and Barcola. 

It was yet another underwhelming display from Wirtz, who lost possession more times than any other player on the pitch (17), though it was a more promising display from Barcola. He finished with team-high totals for successful dribbles (four) and duels won (eight). 

However, it is now six games without a goal involvement for Barcola in all competitions, while Wirtz has managed just one goal contribution in his seven appearances this season.

And despite the pair enduring a slow start to 2026-27, Iraola remains confident they will come good, saying: “Responsibilities are the same [as other senior players in the squad].

“The performances are exactly the same. Sometimes we have to focus not just on the numbers,” he said. 

“I was happy with a lot of things the other day with Bradley. We had good situations; we didn’t finish them. But him and Florian are players I 100% trust.”

Iraola was also asked about hoping the likes of Wirtz and Barcola would step up in the absence of injured trio Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak and Dominik Szoboszlai. 

“I think that is true, Cody, Alex and Dom are top scorers this season because they play more this season, and now we don’t have them, so we need other players to give us those numbers,” Iraola added. “We trust that we have the players to play in those positions.

“The injuries are because of the national teams, and some were injuries from the last game. It is about adapting to the circumstances. Bradley and Florian have had good games, bad games this season, but we know their level, and we are sure they’ll give us good performances.”

Landed in Linz #UCL https://t.co/OgUOqaJJTW

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 13, 2026

No player made more high-intensity pressures than Wirtz on MD1 of this season’s Champions League (84 – level with Umarali Rakhmonaliev). The German midfielder also made the most high-intensity pressures in the opposition half across this season’s opening round (57).

Barcola, meanwhile, managed two goals and four assists during Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League campaign last term, and the pair will be hoping to shine against LASK.

LASK and Liverpool have faced each other on two previous occasions, with the Reds winning at home (4-0) and away (3-1) in the group stage of the 2023-24 Europa League.

The Reds have also won 25 of their last 29 games in the group/league phase of the Champions League (L4), only failing to score in one of the 29 matches in this run (0-1 v Galatasaray in September 2025).

Liverpool’s latest triumph in the Champions League saw them come from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1, though they will be without three key players in Austria. 

Gakpo, Isak and Szoboszlai were all absent from Liverpool’s travelling squad, and Iraola conceded it was likely to be a similar team to the one that lost to Man City. 

“It is a game that we want to win, and we want to start this competition; we have the first win, and we want the second one,” Iraola added. 

“It is always difficult to win in this competition because there are some niggles, so it will be hard to have the same starting 11 as last time.”