Champions League Round-up: PSG thrash Slovan Bratislava as Liverpool, Arsenal battle to wins

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain made a statement in their bid for a third straight Champions League title, thrashing Slovan Bratislava 6-1, while Liverpool and Arsenal and claimed narrower victories on a busy night of the League Phase action.

Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick and Ousmane Dembélé added a brace as PSG ran riot at the Parc des Princes, with Fabian Ruiz also on the scoresheet as Luis Enrique’s side put down an early marker in their quest to become only the fourth club to win three consecutive European Cup titles.

At Anfield, Liverpool came from behind to edge past Atlético Madrid 2-1. Marcos Llorente put the visitors ahead early, before Dominik Szoboszlai levelled just before half-time, finishing off a clever backheel assist from Ronald Araújo, and the reigning champions found a second in the second half to seal the win.

Arsenal left Naples unscathed as Martin Ødegaard scored the only goal of the match in the second half. The midfielder settled the contest in the 75th minute, cutting inside from a Christos Tzolis pull-back to fire past Vanja Milinković-Savić and hand the Gunners a 1-0 win in a tightly-fought contest.

Sporting CP overcame Galatasaray 3-1 at the Estádio José Alvalade, with Geny Catamo opening the scoring before Luis Suárez converted from the penalty spot and Rodrigo Zalazar curled in a stunning free-kick to complete the win for the Portuguese side.

The results leave PSG, Liverpool, Arsenal and Sporting CP all with maximum points from their opening fixtures, joining Barcelona, Stuttgart, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Real Betis, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and AEK Athens among the early pacesetters after the tournament’s opening two days.