Paris: Defending European champions Paris Saint-Germain and last season's Champions League runners-up Arsenal opened their campaigns with victories on Wednesday. PSG cruised to a 6-1 home win over Slovan Bratislava, with Ferran Torres scoring a hat-trick, while Arsenal earned a 1-0 victory at Napoli through Martin Odegaard's second-half goal.
According to Anadolu Agency, Ousmane Dembele broke the deadlock for PSG in the 17th minute, converting the rebound after Nuno Mendes' volley struck the post, before adding his second six minutes later. Torres made it 3-0 in the 31st minute from Dembele's cross as PSG took a three-goal advantage into halftime.
The Spanish forward struck again just two minutes after the restart before completing his hat-trick in the 57th minute from a Dembele corner on his Champions League debut for the French club. Dembele finished the match with two goals and two assists. Suleiman Camara pulled one back for Slovan a minute later, but Fabian Ruiz completed the 6-1 rout in the 87th minute.
Arsenal also began their campaign with three points, beating Napoli 1-0 in Italy. The visitors created several opportunities in the first half, with Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret denying Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino, while Saka fired another chance over shortly before halftime. Arsenal finally broke through in the 75th minute when Odegaard received the ball near the edge of the penalty area and drove a left-footed strike in off the post.
The Gunners had an opportunity to double their advantage five minutes later, but Noni Madueke missed a one-on-one chance as Arsenal settled for a narrow 1-0 victory. At Anfield, Liverpool came from behind to defeat Atletico Madrid 2-1. Marcos Llorente put the Spanish side ahead in the 17th minute, latching onto Julian Alvarez's through ball before lifting his finish over goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
Liverpool responded five minutes before halftime as Dominik Szoboszlai found the bottom corner after Ronald Araujo's flick inside the penalty area. Alexis Mac Allister completed the comeback in the 50th minute, drilling a powerful effort past Jan Oblak from the edge of the box for his 20th Liverpool goal. The Reds held on for the 2-1 victory despite Atletico's efforts to find an equalizer.
In Lisbon, Galatasaray suffered a 3-1 defeat to Sporting despite taking an early lead. The Turkish champions went ahead in the sixth minute when Lucas Torreira converted a rebound following a long throw into the penalty area, although the goal was later recorded as an own goal by Sporting defender Goncalo Inacio. Sporting equalized in the 27th minute through Geny Catamo, whose volley found the bottom corner after a scramble inside the box.
The Portuguese side completed the turnaround in the 57th minute when Luis Suarez converted a penalty after being brought down inside the area. Rodrigo Zalazar then sealed Sporting's victory six minutes later with a free kick from 25 yards into the top corner, completing the 3-1 scoreline.