Mo Salah celebrates scoring Liverpool's fourth goal in the 7-1 thrashing of Rangers in Glasgow on Wednesday. The Egyptian forward went on to complete a hat-trick in just over six minutes.

Mo Salah came off the bench to score the fastest-ever hat-trick in Champions League history as Liverpool routed Rangers 7-1 at Ibrox on Wednesday.

The Egyptian came on in the second half with his team leading 3-1 and proceeded to fire a stunning treble in just six minutes, 12 seconds to set a new benchmark in the competition.

Bafetimbi Gomis previously held the record from 2011 when he took eight minutes to complete his hat-trick in a 7-1 win for Lyon against Dinamo Zagreb.

But Salah smashed that time with his stunning feat, walking away with the match ball in Glasgow and putting the seal on a confidence-boosting win for Liverpool, which is in a strong position to advance to the last 16.

With Manchester City to come in the Premier League on Sunday, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp hopes the victory will be a turning point for his team after such an unconvincing start to the season.

"The goals we scored were exceptional," he said. "It's a night where things worked out for us. It changes the mood definitely, and that's good. We all know who is coming on Sunday. That will be different, but it's better to go in with the feeling from tonight."

It had been a night when Roberto Firmino had looked like being the hero — scoring twice and setting up another for Darwin Nunez after Rangers had gone ahead in the first half.

But Salah ensured he would dominate the headlines with three wonderfully taken goals.

Klopp had opted to make changes with his team in total control after Nunez made it 3-1 in the 66th minute.

When Salah poked in a fourth for Liverpool from a tight angle in the 75th minute, it served notice of what was to come.

Five minutes later, he curled in another from the edge of the area and almost immediately completed his hat-trick with another clinical strike.

Another substitute, Harvey Elliott, finished the scoring in the 87th.

Liverpool is second in Group A with nine points with two games remaining. Napoli leads with 12 points and advanced to the last 16 by beating Ajax 4-2 earlier on Wednesday. The Amsterdam club has three points, while winless Rangers have zero.

Rangers were left stunned after dominating the early play.

The Glasgow club had avoided a heavy defeat in a 2-0 loss at Anfield a week ago only due to the heroics of goalkeeper Allan McGregor. But in a vastly improved performance, Rangers had the home crowd in dreamland when taking the lead after 17 minutes.

Fabio Carvalho lost possession in his own half, and after a swift break Scott Arfield fired low past goalkeeper Alisson on the edge of the area.

It could have been even better for Rangers when Antonio-Mirko Colak cut out a loose back pass by Joe Gomez but couldn't find a finish.

Liverpool equalized against the run of play after 24 minutes when Firmino headed in a Konstantinos Tsimikas corner at the near post.

Liverpool went ahead 10 minutes into the second half when a Gomez cross was turned home by Firmino again.

From there, the visitor took control and went 3-1 up when the Brazilian's delightful backheel set up Nunez to strike. It looked like game over — but Salah had other ideas.

"They punished us with the attack they have," Rangers coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst said. "In the last 25 minutes we weren't in the game, not with our heads, not with the decisions we made. Against a team like Liverpool, you get punished."

Klopp said the mood around Liverpool had been lifted after a big victory.

"When we play to our potential we're a pretty good football team. That's what we showed tonight," he added.

Rangers are being schooled on their return to the Champions League for the first time in 12 years as they crumbled to a record-equaling European defeat in the second half.

The Glasgow giant is without a point and has conceded 16 goals in four games.

"The first half and the last half an hour was night and day," said Van Bronckhorst, whose team sits second behind old rival Celtic in the Scottish league. "I cannot explain it.

"The performance was not the way we want to represent this club. Of course we need to accept the criticism. It's part of my job, part of the players' job."