Graeme Souness scored a second hat-trick in the same European Cup campaign as Liverpool beat CSKA Sofia 5–1 at Anfield on 4 March 1981. Sammy Lee and Terry McDermott supplied the other goals, leaving Liverpool four ahead before the quarter-final return in Bulgaria.
CSKA had eliminated holders Nottingham Forest in the first round. They also troubled Liverpool: Ray Clemence had to stop Tzvetan Ionchev early on, and Phil Thompson's injury brought Colin Irwin into the defence before half-time.
Liverpool nevertheless reached the interval two goals ahead. Alan Hansen's advance began the opening move, Kenny Dalglish passed on to Souness, and the midfielder struck from the edge of the penalty area. Lee added the second just before the break after Steve Heighway's cross was headed out.
Heighway created another opening six minutes into the second half. He beat two defenders on the left and rolled the ball inside for Souness to score again. Ionchev then reduced the deficit to 3–1, but McDermott restored Liverpool's three-goal lead in the 62nd minute.
Souness completed his hat-trick with ten minutes left. Another Heighway cross reached him through Ray Kennedy's header, and he drove in from outside the area.
The crowd of 37,255 had seen all five Liverpool goals come from midfield. Souness had already scored three against Oulu in October; this treble helped establish a commanding first-leg advantage against opponents who had arrived after four European Cup matches without conceding. Liverpool would take their 5–1 lead to Sofia on 18 March.