Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain began their title defence with a 6-1 thrashing of Slovan Bratislava in Paris on Wednesday night.
Last season’s runners-up Arsenal secured a 1-0 victory over Napoli, courtesy of a late strike from captain Martin Odegaard, while Liverpool edged Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield.
In Paris, Ousmane Dembele scored twice before new PSG signing Ferran Torres completed a hat-trick as Luis Enrique’s men thrashed Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava, coached by former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure.
PSG were five goals ahead after 57 minutes before Suleiman Camara pulled one back for Slovan. Fabian Ruiz then scored the sixth goal in stoppage time as the champions wrapped up an emphatic home victory.
Arsenal continued their excellent Champions League form, having won all eight of their league-phase fixtures last season, with an away victory over Napoli.
Captain Odegaard, who scored the winner against Chelsea at the weekend, once again secured victory for his side with a thunderous shot in the 75th minute.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the result did not reflect his side’s performance.
“The result probably doesn’t reflect the performance,” Arteta said.
“We created many chances against a tough opponent. We had courage. It was a shame we missed so many big chances, ” he added.
At Anfield, Liverpool came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 after falling behind in the 17th minute.
Marcos Llorente gave the Spanish side the lead when he finished an excellent counter-attack, but goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister gave Liverpool all three points.
“It was ups and downs all the time, they have a good team. I think we have a good team as well. We gave everything that we had,” Liverpool midfielder Szoboszlai said.
Earlier, LaLiga champions Barcelona thrashed Feyenoord 5-1 at Camp Nou, with Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus scoring for the Catalans.
Another six fixtures are scheduled for Thursday, including three-time European champions Manchester United at home to Azerbaijani debutants Sabah, who came through four preliminary rounds of knockout matches to reach the group phase.
