By his own astronomically high standards, this season has been disappointing for Mohamed Salah as he and Liverpool have struggled, but in one rampant showing at Rangers on Tuesday both player and club rediscovered their spark.

Tipped to be Manchester City’s main Premier League title challengers again this term, Liverpool have suffered their worst start to a domestic season in a decade, having amassed just 10 points from their opening eight fixtures.

Salah’s lack of goals has perhaps been one of the reasons for their slump.

Two from eight starts is not the form you would usually associate with a player who averages 0.61 goals in the Premier League, but the Egyptian’s struggles have matched his team’s woes.

Form, however, is only temporary. Salah and Liverpool were in dire need of a lift with champions Manchester City next up at Anfield on Sunday.

The quickest hat-trick in Champions League history from substitute Salah in a 7-1 success was just what the doctor ordered.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scores their sixth goal against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow on Wednesday. (Photo: Ian MacNicol / Getty Images)

“We usually drink a beer after away games, it’s that long since I drank we’ll probably be drunk after one,” a buoyant Jurgen Klopp joked after the match.

“The relief is big. All the effort is paying off. We all know when it is running for Mo (Salah); he is exceptional, absolutely exceptional. Obviously it was a different position for him tonight, coming on.

“I hope everything works for him from now on, like I hope it does for us.”

With Salah left on the bench for the first time this term, Klopp went for a more youthful Liverpool line-up as he looked to put his side on the verge of the last 16 against Rangers, and forget their domestic struggles.

Harvey Elliott of Liverpool celebrates with teammate Mohamed Salah after scoring their seventh goal in the Champions League clash with Rangers. (Photo: Ian MacNicol / Getty Images)

It looked like the gamble had backfired as Liverpool conceded first for the eighth time this season in the first half at a bouncing Ibrox, before a double from Roberto Firmino turned the match on its head.

Even after close-season signing Darwin Nunez did his confidence a world of good with a fine finish to make it 3-1, Liverpool did not look overly convincing, until Salah entered the fray.

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The defending left much to be desired from Rangers, but the way Salah stroked the ball into the net, especially for his treble-clinching third, was reminiscent of the Egyptian at his best.

It will take a special performance for Liverpool to end City’s unbeaten start to the season on Sunday, but the chances of Salah making another telling contribution in this blockbuster clash look more promising now.

Barca Blues

Robert Lewandowski scored two late goals to earn Barcelona a point in a breathless 3-3 draw with Inter Milan on Wednesday, which kept alive their faint hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16.

Barcelona are still facing elimination at the group stage of the competition for the second consecutive season, but Lewandowski’s stoppage-time equaliser gave them a slim chance of progressing with two games left.

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Inter need a home win over Viktoria Plzeň next week to join Bayern Munich in the last 16.

“It’s bad, I think this Champions League is being very cruel to us,” Barcelona manager Xavi Hernández said in a TV interview.

“Now it is out of our hands. What is left for us is to turn our attention quickly to Sunday’s El Clasico (against Real Madrid), bounce back and focus on LaLiga because the Champions League became very difficult and complicated for us.”

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Until last year, Barca had advanced to at least the round of 16 in the Champions League in every season since 2001, but are now facing the prospect of slipping into the Europa League for the second season in a row.

Roared on by their fans in a sold-out Camp Nou, Barcelona started strongly, with Raphinha the focal point of their attack and Inter goalkeeper André Onana made three fine stops from strikes by the Brazilian.

Mo Salah shoots at goal against Rangers. (Photo: Ian MacNicol / Getty Images)

Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring his third goal against Rangers. (Photo: Joe Prior / Visionhaus via Getty Images)

But just like last week in Milan, Inter were strong on the counterattack in the first half and went close to scoring on three occasions.

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Edin Džeko thundered a close-range strike off the post in the 17th minute, Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a long-range shot denied by Marc-André ter Stegen, who also denied Denzel Dumfries in a one-on-one from a counterattack.

In a move started by Raphinha on the right touchline, the Spanish side took the lead through a close-range strike by Ousmane Dembélé from a Sergi Roberto cross five minutes from halftime.

But it all changed after the break when Nicolo Barella levelled in the 50th minute with a volley from Alessandro Bastoni’s cross after ghosting in behind the Barcelona defence.

A Lautaro Martínez strike from the edge of the area that bounced off both posts before going in put Inter ahead 13 minutes later and they could have extended their lead at least twice but were denied by Ter Stegen.

With Barcelona in all-out attack mode, Lewandowski equalised from a rebound in the 82nd minute.

Inter regained the lead one minute from time when Robin Gosens finished off a counterattack, but Lewandowski’s bullet header three minutes later rescued Barca who are third in the Group C standings on four points, three behind Inter and eight adrift of Bayern Munich. Reuters/DM

Other scores:

Napoli 4 Ajax 2

Atlético Madrid 0 Club Brugge 0

Viktoria Plzeň 2 Bayern Munich 4

Bayer Leverkusen 0 Porto 3

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 2

Sporting CP 0 Olympique Marseille 2