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.
PSG are hoping to become only the fourth club to win three European Cups in a row.
They wasted little time in picking apart Yaya Toure’s Slovan at the Parc des Princes.
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.
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.
Liverpool made it successive victories after winning at Ipswich in the Premier League last week by beating Atletico 2-1 at Anfield.
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.
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.
Liverpool hit back five minutes before the break through Dominik Szoboszlai, courtesy of a clever backheeled pass from Ronald Araujo.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“We controlled the game, we are dominant and this is fantastic to see. This is our style and how we want to play,” said Flick.
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.
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.
AFP
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