UEFA Champions League 2026: Big Guns Fire As PSG, Barcelona And Arsenal Start With Wins

The Champions League delivered another night of attacking football as Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Arsenal all began their campaigns with victories on Wednesday.

Defending champions PSG produced the biggest result of the night, cruising past Slovan Bratislava 6-1. Ferran Torres marked his Champions League debut for the club in style, scoring a hat-trick, while Ousmane Dembele added two goals to cap a comfortable outing for the French side.

Barcelona were equally impressive as they swept aside Feyenoord 5-1. Raphinha continued his remarkable start to the season with another two goals, taking his tally to eight in just five appearances. Lamine Yamal also found the net with a cleverly executed free kick, while new arrivals Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus also got on the scoresheet.

Arsenal, meanwhile, produced a more familiar result by edging Napoli 1-0. Martin Odegaard continued his impressive run in front of goal, scoring the only goal of the match. The Arsenal captain has already found the net four times this season after managing just one goal throughout the entirety of the previous campaign.

Liverpool, Stuttgart Add To High-Scoring Night

Liverpool ensured all four English clubs opened the competition with wins after coming from behind to defeat Atletico Madrid 2-1. Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister scored for the hosts after Marcos Llorente had put Atletico ahead early in the contest.

Liverpool's victory came with a concern, however, as record signing Bradley Barcola was forced off with what appeared to be a calf problem.

Stuttgart also enjoyed a memorable night, with Ermedin Demirovic scoring three times in just 12 first-half minutes during a 3-1 victory over Champions League debutants Viking. His hat-trick came between the 20th and 32nd minutes, putting him among the fastest hat-trick scorers in the competition's history.

Sporting Lisbon also came from behind to beat Galatasaray 3-1, with Rodrigo Zalazar producing a spectacular curling free kick to complete the scoring.

The opening rounds have already produced a remarkable number of goals. The first 12 matches of this season's Champions League have witnessed 45 goals, averaging 3.75 per game. That figure is ahead of last season's 3.47 goals per match, which was already the highest scoring rate in the competition since the 1960s.

PSG, Barcelona Put Their Attacking Strength On Show

PSG's emphatic victory was particularly significant after an unusual run of four matches without a win in domestic competition following their UEFA Super Cup triumph over Aston Villa.

Luis Enrique's side showed little sign of that recent inconsistency against Slovan, with the European champions quickly finding their rhythm. The PSG manager also praised Yaya Toure, who became the first African coach to lead a team in the Champions League's main phase.

Barcelona's performance further underlined their attacking depth. Raphinha remains one of the standout performers of the early season, while Yamal continues to impress despite his young age.

With two hat-tricks already recorded after just 12 matches and several heavyweight clubs making emphatic starts, the new Champions League campaign is already shaping up to be a high-scoring affair.