Six goals for Paris Saint-Germain, five for Barcelona and classically just one for Arsenal as the serious contenders for the Champions League started with wins.
There was a hat trick for Ferran Torres, the World Cup-winning goalscorer, on his PSG debut in the competition, and two goals for his new teammate Ousmane Dembélé in a 6-1 beating of Slovan Bratislava by the two-time title holder.
At Barcelona, Raphinha scored two more in his rapid-fire start to the season, and Lamine Yamal fired a free kick through Feyenoord’s defensive wall in an easy 5-1 win.
It was a typically Arsenal result, a 1-0 win at Napoli with the only goal scored by the English champion’s suddenly prolific captain Martin Ødegaard. It’s his fourth goal so far after just one in the whole of last season.
All four English clubs won their opening games after Liverpool rallied to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 with goals by midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister. However, Liverpool saw its record signing Bradley Barcola limp off with an apparent calf injury in the second half.
Unheralded Stuttgart forward Ermedin Demirovic got a hat trick inside 12 first-half minutes in a 3-1 win over Norwegian debutant Viking.
Sporting Lisbon beat Galatasaray 3-1 having also trailed early in the game. The third was a powerful curling free kick by Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Zalazar.
The high rate of goals — 45 through the first 12 games in this Champions League campaign at a rate of 3.75 per game — is well above the average of 3.47 last season. That was itself the highest rate since the 1960s in the old European Cup format.
PSG ends unusual winless run
After beating Aston Villa 2-1 in the UEFA Super Cup four weeks ago, PSG failed to win any of its next four games in France, including three in defense of its Ligue 1 title.
A routine demolition of Slovakian champion Slovan was more like business as usual.
“Confidence isnt easy to get, especially if you’re not getting the results you want,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “For me, our first three games were acceptable.” Luis Enrique, who coached Barcelona to a Champions League title before his two in Paris, had praise for Slovan coach Yaya Touré. The Ivory Coast great became the first African to coach a team in the Champions League main phase.
“I like the messages he transmits to his players, he has everything to succeed,” the PSG coach said. “He has the quality and the ability to be a great manager.”
Barcelona brush aside Van Bronckhorst’s Feyenoord
Raphinha now has eight goals in just five games this season, as if sending a reminder to those who left his name off the Ballon d’Or nominations Tuesday.
Barcelona got high-class goals from all angles Tuesday, including from new signings Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus. Adeyemi found the top corner of Feyenoord’s net with a precise curling shot in the 22nd and Jesus came off the bench to glance in a header in the 85th.
Teenage star Yamal fired a free kick left-footed from 20 meters (yards) in the 77th that went at waist height between Feyenoord players jumping and turning sideways in the wall.
“He is outstanding,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said of Yamal, “you can see it every game. He is special.” Feyenoord was coached by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who returned to Camp Nou where he spent four years as a player and won a Champions League title in 2006.
Demirovic first, Torres second in Champions League hat trick count
A 12-minute hat trick by Stuttgart forward Ermedin Demirovic was just the eighth-fastest in the Champions League era, UEFA said.
The Bosnia-Herzegovina forward found his rhythm to strike in the 20th, 26th and 32nd minutes and give Stuttgart a decisive lead against Norwegian newcomer Viking, whose captain Zlatko Tripic had leveled in the 22nd.
PSG’s Ferran Torres followed suit hours later — in the 31st, 47th and 57th minutes — to make it two trebles after just 12 of the 189-game Champions League season.
Eight hat tricks were scored last season, including two by Kylian Mbappé in the league phase for Real Madrid, both in away games at Kairat Almaty and Olympiakos.
Atletico’s Llorente finds a best friend in Anfield again
Atletico Madrid midfielder Marcos Llorente once had such a stellar game at Liverpool he named his dog after the storied Anfield stadium.
On Wednesday, the 31-year-old Llorente played at Anfield in the Champions League for the third time in his career and scored his fifth goal there. That matches his tally of five goals in his other 56 Champions League games.
His 17th-minute strike to give Atletico the lead Wednesday ultimately was in vain in a 2-1 loss. He will always have those two extra-time goals in March 2020 for a 3-2 win that eliminated then-defending champion Liverpool in the round of 16. (AP)
Published – September 10, 2026 02:49 pm IST
