Tsimikas Captains Liverpool With Two Assists in 6-3 Win at LASK

By Taki Panos

Some players wait their whole career for a night like this one. On Wednesday in Linz, Kostas Tsimikas led Liverpool out as captain in a competitive match for the first time and then helped them to a 6-3 win over LASK on matchday 2 of the Champions League league phase, as Liverpool's official site reported. He did not just wear the armband, either. The Greek left-back set up two of the six goals, per in.gr, and walked off with a perfect start to the European campaign.

For readers who do not follow Liverpool closely, a little background. Tsimikas joined the club from Olympiacos in 2020, as Sport24 noted, and became only the second Greek to sign for Liverpool after defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos, according to a Norwegian Liverpool fan site. He spent years as a trusted backup, became the first Greek to win the English title with Liverpool in 2025, per Sportime, and spent last season on loan at Roma, Sport24 added. Plenty of patience went into this moment.

The armband came about through rotation. Manager Andoni Iraola made four changes, leaving out Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister, Victor Munoz and Virgil van Dijk, the club's team news confirmed. Tsimikas was named captain, with Jeremie Frimpong, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha also starting, per the match report. With an average age of 24 years and 186 days, it was Liverpool's third youngest starting XI ever in the Champions League. Van Dijk watched from the bench until midway through the second half.

Tsimikas made his mark early. Midway through the first half, in the 22nd minute, his out-swinging corner found Ronald Araujo, who headed down and in for 1-0, as in.gr and Ethnos both reported. It was Araujo's first goal for the club, Liverpool noted. Two minutes later it was 2-0, when Lewis Koumas reacted quickest after Ngumoha went down in the box and teed up Bradley Barcola for a first-time finish. A captain's corner and a fast start. Not a bad way to begin.

Liverpool kept coming. Ryan Gravenberch hit the inside of the post, Koumas had a goal ruled out for offside, and Barcola then made it 3-0 before the break after another slick move with Florian Wirtz, per the club and in.gr. The numbers back up what everyone saw. Liverpool had 19 shots in the first half, which Opta says is the most by an away team in the first half of a Champions League game on record, going back to 2003-04, the club reported. LASK simply could not get out.

The second assist was the prettier one. Early in the second half, the two full-backs combined: Tsimikas swung a cross to the back post and Frimpong rose to head it down past goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth for 4-0 in the 51st minute, per Liverpool's match report, with bala24 and in.gr giving the same minute. A left-back finding a right-back for a headed goal is the kind of thing you only see when a team is fully in control. Liverpool were.

The rest of the night was entertaining, if a little untidy at the back. Robert Ljubicic pulled one back for LASK, Barcola completed his hat-trick from a Frimpong cross, and Koumas scored his first Champions League goal to make it 6-1, the club reported. Substitute Florian Flecker then scored twice for the hosts to make it 6-3, per in.gr. Iraola later admitted that changing both centre-backs at once was not the right call for the game itself, as he said after the match. It was LASK's second straight loss in the competition.

The words afterwards came straight from the heart. Tsimikas posted on Instagram: "Representing my dream club, on a Champions League night, as a captain, with a win and some assists serving?! Little Kostas, we made it happen, kid. Never stop dreaming and believing, guys," as quoted by Liverpool. The club described it as a childhood dream fulfilled. Ethnos called it a historic Champions League night for him, and bala24 called it a special evening for the international full-back.

This was not his first time with the armband, but it was the first that counted. In July, in a preseason friendly against Sunderland in Nashville, he took over as captain after Joe Gomez went off injured in the eighth minute, TA NEA reported, and Liverpool won 4-2, per Sport24. He wrote at the time: "Some moments become memories forever. First time as captain. An honor that cannot be described," as ANT1 quoted (translated from Greek). Wednesday was the real thing, a Champions League start with the armband from the first whistle.

There is a nice piece of Greek history here too. Bala24 reported that Tsimikas is the first Greek to captain Liverpool since Kyrgiakos. Kyrgiakos wore the armband in a League Cup defeat to Northampton Town in September 2010, according to the same Norwegian fan site, a night Liverpool fans would rather forget. Tsimikas now has a far happier captaincy story to tell, with six goals, two assists and three points to go with it.

It was a busy Greek night across the Champions League. In London, AEK, who beat LASK in Athens on matchday 1, lost 3-1 to Shakhtar after two late goals. In Rotterdam, Greek striker Tasos Douvikas came off the bench and scored in stoppage time for Como, though the Italian side still lost 3-2 to Feyenoord, per in.gr and Ethnos. Greek players are showing up on the biggest stage, even on nights when the results do not all go their way.

My take: this one is about more than a stat line. Tsimikas has spent most of his Liverpool career as the reliable second choice, the player who keeps smiling, keeps working and is ready when called. Managers notice that. Giving him the armband on a European night, in a young and rotated team, was a clear sign of trust from Iraola. Two assists in return was the best possible answer. I would not read it as a sign that he is suddenly first choice, but it shows exactly how much he means to that dressing room.

Liverpool now play Brentford in the Premier League in less than three days, Iraola said, and then host Villarreal at Anfield on Tuesday, October 20, per in.gr and the club. Whether Tsimikas starts again or not, Wednesday will stay with him. For more on Greek athletes around the world, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. Little Kostas did make it. Captain Kostas, even.

Sources: Liverpool FC, in.gr, Ethnos, bala24, Sport24, TA NEA, ANT1, Sportime, Liverpool.no.

Image: Kostas Tsimikas playing for Liverpool in a 2022 friendly against RB Leipzig, by Steffen Prößdorf, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).