PSG, who are hoping to become only the fourth club to win three European Cups in a row, visit Manchester City and host Barca in their next two European games. Holders Paris Saint-Germain made a smooth start to their bid for a third consecutive Champions League title as Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 rout of Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, while Liverpool came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid. Barcelona kicked off their campaign by scoring five goals against Feyenoord, while Arsenal impressed with a 1-0 win at Napoli.
Hansi Flick’s men, who lost to Atletico in the quarter-finals last season, have won all five of their matches in all competitions so far this season, scoring five goals in four of them. But they wasted little time in picking apart Yaya Toure’s Slovan at the Parc des Princes. Torres tapped home Dembele’s cross just after the half-hour mark and drilled in his second less than two minutes after the restart. Spain’s World Cup final hero completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute, shanking a shot with his knee that spun into the bottom corner. Suleiman Camara crashed in a consolation for Slovan, but Fabian Ruiz had the final say for PSG when he pounced on a mishit clearance. Atletico grabbed a 17th-minute lead as Julian Alvarez, starting for the first time this season after failing to force a move away from the club, played in Marcos Llorente to dink the ball over Alisson in the Liverpool goal. Alexis Mac Allister then hammered the hosts in front five minutes into the second half with a left-footed strike from outside the box, and Atletico could not find a response. “I’ve loved it. Odegaard sinks Napoli Arsenal missed several first-half chances at the Stadio Armando Diego Maradona, with Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret making an excellent save to keep out Mikel Merino’s header. Martin Odegaard, who scored the winner against Chelsea at the weekend, played a clever one-two with Christos Tzolis on the edge of the area and crashed a shot in off the far post. “We controlled the game, we are dominant and this is fantastic to see. Raphinha put Barca into a third-minute lead before a brilliant long-range strike from summer signing Karim Adeyemi. Brazilian Raphinha, playing up front this season after the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Torres, made it eight goals already for the campaign in the second half. Lamine Yamal netted a free-kick which crept through the wall, and although Sem Steijn pulled one back for Feyenoord, Gabriel Jesus came off the bench and then headed in his first Barca goal.
Ousmane Dembele hammered in a rebound and then nodded in a deflected cross to put Luis Enrique’s men two goals ahead inside 22 minutes. Liverpool made it successive victories after winning at Ipswich in the Premier League last week by beating Atletico 2-1 at Anfield. Llorente has now scored five times in three visits to Anfield, after netting a double at Liverpool last season and in Atletico’s dramatic last-16 victory in 2020. Piero Hincapie fired over a golden chance from just three yards out as the English champions continued to push after half-time, but last season’s runners-up finally forged ahead with 15 minutes left. Barcelona made an excellent start to their latest bid to end a 12-year wait to lift the trophy, as Raphinha continued his superb form by scoring twice in a 5-1 thumping of Feyenoord. Ermedin Demirovic scored a first-half hat-trick as Stuttgart eased to a 3-1 home win over Norwegian champions Viking, playing in the competition for the first time in 34 years. Sporting, quarter-finalists last season for the first time since 1983, fought back to see off Galatasaray 3-1 in Lisbon. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
“It is the Champions League, we always play against tough teams, but we have to be focused first in Ligue 1 because we didn’t start in the right way,” said Torres, with PSG yet to win a domestic game this season. The atmosphere has been incredible and I feel lucky, lucky to experience it,” said Liverpool’s new manager Andoni Iraola after his Champions League coaching debut. This is our style and how we want to play,” said Flick.
Liverpool hit back five minutes before the break through Dominik Szoboszlai, courtesy of a clever backheeled pass from Ronald Araujo.
