Liverpool drubs Spartak Moscow 7-0

LIVERPOOL, England — Four months after asking to leave Liverpool, Philippe Coutinho scored a hat trick wearing the captain’s armband to propel the club into the Champions League knockout stage on a record-setting night for English soccer.

The Brazil playmaker headlined a devastating display by Liverpool in its 7-0 thrashing of Spartak Moscow at Anfield on Wednesday, with the other three members of the attacking “Fab 4” — Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah — also scoring.

Coutinho started the season in dispute with Liverpool, which refused to sell him to Barcelona following repeated bids by the Spanish team in August.