Ferran Torres hat-trick inspires Paris Saint-Germain to Champions League rout

Paris Saint-Germain began their Champions League title defence with a commanding 6-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava, as Spain forward Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick in the opening round of the league phase.

Torres, described as the scorer of Spain’s World Cup-winning goal, struck in the 31st, 47th and 57th minutes to complete his treble.

Ousmane Dembele gave the Paris side control of the match with two goals inside the opening 23 minutes, scoring in the 17th and 23rd minutes. Fabian Ruiz completed the rout with a late sixth goal in the 88th minute.

Slovan Bratislava’s only goal came from Suleiman Kamara in the 59th minute.

The result gave Paris Saint-Germain their first win of this season’s league phase as they begin their attempt to retain the Champions League trophy, having won the competition in each of the past two seasons.

Paris Saint-Germain are also aiming to match the record held by Real Madrid by winning the Champions League in three consecutive campaigns.

Their remaining league-phase fixtures are against Barcelona at home, Manchester City away, Roma at home, Aston Villa away, Galatasaray at home, Villarreal away and Como away.

Slovan Bratislava will face Inter and Real Betis at home, Roma away, Shakhtar at home, Lille away, Stuttgart at home and LASK away.

Sporting CP recover to beat Galatasaray

Sporting CP came from behind to beat Galatasaray 3-1 in the other match, after the visitors had taken an early lead.

Galatasaray went ahead in the fifth minute through Max Araujo, but Sporting CP responded quickly when Geny Catamo levelled the score in the 27th minute.

The sides went into half-time level, but Sporting CP took control after the break by scoring twice in a six-minute spell.

Luis Javier Suarez put the Portuguese side ahead in the 57th minute before Rodrigo Zalazar added a third goal in the 63rd minute.

Sporting CP’s league-phase schedule includes home matches against Barcelona, Manchester United, Shakhtar and LASK, as well as away games against Manchester City, Roma and Lens.

Galatasaray will host Barcelona, Aston Villa, Feyenoord and Stuttgart. Their away fixtures are against Paris Saint-Germain, Lille and AEK Athens.

How the new Champions League format works

This is the third season in which the Champions League has featured a 36-team league phase.

Each club plays eight matches, with four at home and four away. The teams are placed in a single table, with points collected across all of their fixtures.

The top eight sides at the end of the league phase qualify automatically for the round of 16.

Teams finishing from ninth to 16th enter a play-off against clubs placed from 17th to 24th, with the winners claiming the remaining eight places in the last 16.

After the draw, the teams finishing ninth and 10th will be paired with one of the clubs in 23rd or 24th place, with the same system applied across the other qualifying positions.