Champions League: PSG and Liverpool stay perfect as Manchester City cruise

Paris Saint-Germain maintained their 100% start to the Champions League league phase with a 4-2 win over Barcelona, while Liverpool came from two goals down to beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield.

The holders moved to three wins from three and remain top of the table, although Ousmane Dembele, Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia all suffered injuries at the Parc des Princes. Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz scored late goals to settle an entertaining contest.

“We don’t feel superior to any team but we trust in ourselves, in everyone who starts and who comes off the bench,” Ruiz told Movistar. “There’s still a long way to go.”

Barcelona twice equalised but suffered their first defeat of the season after winning their previous 11 matches in all competitions. Desire Doue gave PSG the lead in the 38th minute, before Xavi Espart levelled against the run of play.

Joan Garcia had earlier denied Ferran Torres and later saved from Achraf Hakimi, while Kvaratskhelia struck the post. The Georgian and Marquinhos both went off injured within seconds of each other, while Dembele had already been forced to leave the field.

Lucas Hernandez restored PSG’s lead with a header 18 minutes from time, but Lamine Yamal again brought Barcelona level seven minutes later. Vitinha then scored from outside the box in the 81st minute before Ruiz completed a second successive 4-2 Champions League victory for Luis Enrique’s side, following last week’s win over Manchester City.

“We tried to play how we want to play, we pressed them very high. There were a lot of fantastic things on show today,” said Barcelona manager Flick.

Liverpool also preserved their perfect record after recovering from a disastrous start against Villarreal. Georges Mikautadze punished an error by Virgil van Dijk in the fourth minute, before Sergi Cardona doubled the visitors’ advantage.

Alexis Mac Allister headed in Kostas Tsimikas’s corner to reduce the deficit, and Ronald Araujo equalised in first-half added time after Cardona failed to deal with Rio Ngumoha’s cross. Mac Allister completed the turnaround from Ngumoha’s cut-back, before half-time substitute Florian Wirtz scored his first goal of the season. Tani Oluwaseyi’s late goal made for a tense finish, but Liverpool held on.

“We are facing very good teams. It’s good to come back but we’ve started losing too many goals this season,” said Andoni Iraola to Amazon Prime.

Manchester City beat AEK Athens 5-1 at the Etihad, with Phil Foden scoring a hat-trick. Elliot Anderson netted his first goal for the club, while Foden struck in successive games after scoring against Ipswich at the weekend. Stavros Pilios briefly gave AEK hope, but Rayan Cherki restored City’s two-goal advantage before Foden completed his treble. Erling Haaland was rested after picking up a knock.

“Slowly, but surely. Still got a long way to go, but I am going in the right direction,” Foden told TNT Sports.

Roma beat Slovan Bratislava 4-0 for their first Champions League win since 2019. Napoli made it two wins from two for the Italian sides, defeating Bodo/Glimt 4-3 after being twice pegged back, with Scott McTominay scoring twice.

Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 with Stuttgart despite playing much of the second half with 10 men, while Borussia Dortmund ended four successive away defeats in the competition by beating Sabah 2-1 in Baku.