Strong Starts for Barcelona and PSG.. and Liverpool Escapes Atletico's Trap

A Hat-trick for Torres and a Brace for Dembélé

At the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain showed their teeth with a massive 6-1 victory over visitors Slovan Bratislava, featuring a hat-trick by their new Spanish international signing and scorer of the 2026 World Cup final winning goal, Ferran Torres, (31, 47, and 57), a brace by their international winger Ousmane Dembélé (17 and 23), and fellow Spaniard Fabián Ruiz wrapping up the festival with a sixth goal (88), while Gambian Sulayman Kamara scored Bratislava's lone consolation goal (59).

PSG bounced back from their shaky start in the domestic league. Uncharacteristically, the squad under Spanish coach Luis Enrique—who is eyeing a third consecutive continental title—began their domestic campaign with two draws and a home defeat to Monaco 1-2 earlier today.

However, PSG proved on Wednesday that they should not be underestimated. Having excelled in the Champions League in recent seasons, they extended their unbeaten European run to 12 matches (8 wins and 4 draws), maintaining the streak where no titleholder has lost its opening home match in the European Champion Clubs' Cup/Champions League since Celtic of Scotland in 1968.

A Fourth Five-Goal Victory for Barcelona

At the Camp Nou, Barcelona kicked off their campaign with a crushing 5-1 win over visiting Feyenoord.

The Blaugrana owed their victory to a brace by Brazilian Raphinha (3 and 57) alongside goals from Germany's Karim Adeyemi (22), Lamine Yamal (77), and new Brazilian signing Gabriel Jesus, who scored just two minutes after coming on in his debut appearance in his new club's colors (85).

Sem Steijn scored Feyenoord's sole goal (82).

This goalscoring tally has almost become a habit for the Catalan side. Heavy rain falling on Catalonia on Wednesday evening could not prevent Barcelona, the Spanish champions of the past two seasons, from continuing their perfect start to the season by securing their fifth win in five matches, and their fourth in which they scored five goals.

Of course, coach Hansi Flick's men will face tougher opponents on their path toward winning the sixth title in the club's history—the stated objective for this season—and reaching the final scheduled in Madrid next June.

That journey begins with a clash against Paris Saint-Germain on October 20, followed by England's Manchester City on December 8.

But pending those major encounters, the Blaugrana produced another stellar attacking display led by captain Raphinha, who claimed his seventh and eighth goals in five matches, alongside the prodigious talent Lamine Yamal, who scored a goal and provided two assists.

Even summer transfer window signing Gabriel Jesus, introduced in the dying minutes, joined the celebrations by marking his opening minutes in a Barcelona shirt.

Flick said in the press conference: "We played very well during our first five matches. We scored a lot of goals, but the most important thing for me is that we play as a team, all together."

He added, "We controlled the match and imposed our superiority, and it is wonderful to watch. This is our style, and this is how we want to play."

13 Consecutive Wins for Arsenal

Norwegian international midfielder Martin Ødegaard led his Arsenal side to a valuable victory away in Italy, scoring the lone winner against hosts Napoli in the 75th minute following an assist from Club Brugge's new Greek international signing, Christos Tzolis.

The Gunners asserted their dominance over a tentative and inaccurate Napoli side. The London club had to wait until the 75th minute to break the deadlock through captain Ødegaard.

Arsenal, who achieved a flawless record of eight wins out of eight during last season's league phase, extended their Champions League group/league stage winning streak to 13 consecutive victories.

In the next round in mid-October, the English champions—tipped as one of the leading favorites to win the 2026-2027 Champions League edition—will host French side Lille, while Napoli will visit Spain's Villarreal.

Liverpool Bounces Back from Afar

At Anfield, Liverpool overturned a deficit to claim an important opening 2-1 victory over visiting Atletico Madrid.

After Marcos Llorente gave Atletico the lead (17), Liverpool responded with two goals through Hungary's Dominik Szoboszlai (40) and Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister (50).

The match witnessed Liverpool's new French international winger Bradley Barcola limping off the pitch due to a calf injury (60).

For the first time this season, Argentine coach Diego Simeone deployed his compatriot, international striker Julián Alvarez, in the starting lineup after all attempts for his transfer to Barcelona hit a dead end.

Portugal's Sporting followed Liverpool's example, turning the tables on visiting Turkish side Galatasaray 3-1.

The visitors took the lead through an own goal by Gonçalo Inácio (5), but the hosts replied with a trio of goals shared between Mozambique's Geny Catamo (27), Colombia's Luis Suárez (57 from a penalty), and Uruguay's Rodrigo Salazar Martínez (63).

Germany's VfB Stuttgart defeated the Netherlands' Feyenoord... [Note: literal translation of Dutch team adjusted contextually] Viking 3-1.

Bosnian Ermedin Demirović scored a hat-trick for the German side (20, 26, and 32), while Norway's Zlatko Tripić scored Viking's only goal (22).

Enrique Heaps Praise on Dembélé

Spanish coach Luis Enrique of French and European champions Paris Saint-Germain lauded his international winger Ousmane Dembélé, winner of the Ballon d'Or, following his "incredible" performance during the massive 6-1 victory over Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava in the opening of their UEFA Champions League defense campaign on Wednesday.

Enrique said: "That was the Ousmane we all know and have seen over the past three years. When you see his ability to create chances, press, and help the team, you feel truly happy."

Dembélé has featured sparingly since the start of the season as he gradually works his way back to full physical fitness following the World Cup.

Enrique added, "He played wonderfully. He will recover his fitness step by step, but seeing a player with such potential is truly wonderful."

Dembélé did not stop at scoring his team's first and second goals; he also provided assists for two goals scored by Spanish international Ferran Torres, who celebrated a hat-trick in his European debut in a PSG shirt. The Parisian side's other goal was scored by fellow Spaniard Fabián Ruiz.

PSG secured a comfortable victory despite Enrique's decision to leave Georgian attacking duo Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué—two of his primary offensive weapons—on the bench.

The Spanish coach said: "Kvaratskhelia and Doué are incredible players. For me, Kvaratskhelia is capable of winning the Ballon d'Or, as is Dembélé and many other players."

The 30-man shortlist for football's highest individual award features ten players from PSG's squad.

Enrique also praised his counterpart Yaya Touré, coach of Slovan Bratislava, despite the heavy defeat suffered by the Slovak side. He said: "It is difficult to play away from home against the team that won the tournament in the past two years, but I love the way they tried to play football."

He added: "Today was not their best day, because we showed how difficult it is to play against us when we press at this level. It is tough for any opponent, but he has the quality to become a great coach."

The former Ivory Coast, Barcelona, and Manchester City star is the first African coach to lead a team in the main phase of the Champions League.

Touré had guided Slovan Bratislava through three qualifying rounds to reach the group stage, but admitted after the match that his team could not match the titleholders.

He said: "I think Paris will be close to winning the title again. My players gave everything they had, but it wasn't easy. They are an exceptional team."

He joked: "I couldn't put four players to mark Dembélé. I want my team to play football too, and our players did everything they could."

He continued: "I was disappointed today because Ousmane hasn't been at his best in recent matches, but tonight he was at 200%." Touré noted: "I have been working with these players for only a few months, and now they are realizing how strong the best teams in the world are. There is a big gap between the two teams, but this experience will help us grow and improve."