PSG begin Champions League title defence with Ferran Torres hat-trick

Paris St Germain began their defence of the Champions League in emphatic fashion as new signing Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 home win over Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.

The holders, who are targeting a third successive Champions League title, had already built a 5-0 lead by the 57th minute before Suleiman Camara pulled one back for the Slovakian visitors. Ousmane Dembele scored twice, while Torres struck three times in succession before Fabian Ruiz completed the rout two minutes from time.

PSG’s convincing performance contrasted with their early-season domestic form, which has been marked by some rustiness. Slovan Bratislava were coached by former Champions League winner Yaya Toure.

Elsewhere, last season’s runners-up Arsenal extended their remarkable record in the competition with a narrow 1-0 victory at Napoli. Captain Martin Ødegaard settled the match with a powerful 75th-minute shot after a fluent sequence of passes.

Arsenal became the only club to win all eight league-phase matches last season and continued that run in their opening fixture of the new campaign.

“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 also came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield.

Atletico took the lead in the 17th minute when Marcos Llorente finished a swift counter-attack. Dominik Szoboszlai equalised five minutes before half-time, and Alexis Mac Allister completed the turnaround five minutes after the restart with a powerful left-footed effort from outside the penalty area.

“It was ups and downs all the time, they have a good team,” said Szoboszlai of their Spanish opponents. “I think we have a good team as well. We gave everything that we had.”

Sporting recovered from an early setback to beat Galatasaray 3-1 in the Portuguese capital. Goncalo Inacio’s own goal gave the Turkish side a fifth-minute lead, but Geny Catamo levelled in the 27th minute after some poor defending.

Luis Suarez put Sporting ahead by converting a penalty in the 57th minute, before Rodrigo Zalazar sealed victory with a powerful free-kick six minutes later.

Barcelona hit five as Demirovic scores three

Earlier, Barcelona captain Raphinha scored twice in a 5-1 win over Feyenoord in rain-soaked conditions.

Karim Adeyemi, Lamine Yamal and Gabriel Jesus were also on target for the home side, while Sem Steijn scored Feyenoord’s consolation goal.

“There is a long way to go until [the end of the season in] May, but it is true that things look very good because we are training very hard and everyone is hungry,” said Barcelona manager Hansi Flick as he praised his players.

Ermedin Demirovic scored three times in 12 first-half minutes as VfB Stuttgart won 3-1 at home against Viking Stavanger.

The striker opened the scoring after 20 minutes with a touch at the near post, but Viking, appearing in the group phase for the first time, responded two minutes later. Zlatko Tripic completed a quick counter-attack with a left-footed finish to make it 1-1.

Demirovic restored Stuttgart’s lead in the 26th minute and completed his hat-trick with a hooked volley six minutes later.

Six more fixtures are scheduled for Thursday, including Manchester United’s home match against Azerbaijani debutants Sabah.

The three-time European champions face a Sabah side who reached the group phase after progressing through four preliminary rounds of knockout matches.