Paris St Germain made a strong start to their Champions League title defence with a 6-1 win over Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, while Arsenal secured a late 1-0 victory at Napoli.
PSG begin title defence in style
Ousmane Dembele scored twice before new signing Ferran Torres completed a hat-trick as PSG swept aside the Slovak side.
The French champions raced into a 5-0 lead after 57 minutes. Suleiman Camara pulled one back for Slovan, but Fabian Ruiz restored PSG’s five-goal lead two minutes from time.
Former Champions League winner Yaya Toure coaches Slovan.
PSG are aiming for a third straight Champions League title. They also put aside the poor form that has marked their early-season domestic league campaign.
Arsenal snatch late win at Napoli
Arsenal faced a tougher test in Italy but left with all three points after captain Martin Odegaard struck in the 75th minute.
Odegaard finished a fine passing move with a powerful shot to give Arsenal the win.
The result extended Arsenal’s impressive Champions League run. They were the only club to win all eight league-phase games last season.
“The result probably doesn’t reflect the performance,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “We created many chances against a tough opponent. We had courage. It was a shame we missed so many big chances.”
Liverpool, Sporting and Barcelona also win
Liverpool came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield.
Marcos Llorente gave Atletico the lead in the 17th minute after a quick counter-attack. Dominik Szoboszlai then equalised five minutes before halftime.
Alexis Mac Allister completed Liverpool’s comeback five minutes after the break with a left-footed drive from outside the box.
“It was ups and downs all the time; they have a good team,” said Szoboszlai of their Spanish opposition. “I think we have a good team as well. We gave everything that we had.”
Sporting also came from behind to beat Galatasaray 3-1 in Lisbon. Geny Catamo equalised after Goncalo Inacio’s own goal gave the Turkish side an early lead. Luis Suarez and Rodrigo Zalazar then completed the comeback.
Earlier, Barcelona beat Feyenoord 5-1, with captain Raphinha scoring twice. Ermedin Demirovic also hit a first-half hat-trick as VfB Stuttgart defeated Viking Stavanger 3-1.
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