Barcelona and PSG Open Champions League Campaign With Statement Wins as Liverpool Edge Past Atletico
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Barcelona opened their league-phase campaign with a 5-1 win over Feyenoord, with Raphinha scoring twice and Karim Adeyemi, Lamine Yamal and new signing Gabriel Jesus also on target. It was an early showcase for a squad reshaped by a heavy summer of incoming transfers, with several of the club's new arrivals directly involved in the scoring.
PSG hammered Slovan Bratislava 6-1, with new signing Ferran Torres scoring a hat-trick and Ousmane Dembele adding two more in the first half. The result gives the reigning champions an emphatic start to the defence of their title, with Fabian Ruiz also on the scoresheet late on before Slovan's consolation through Suleiman Camara.
Liverpool came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring twice either side of a Dominik Szoboszlai equaliser after Giuliano Simeone's side had taken an early lead through Alex Sotorres Llorente. The win marked a winning Champions League managerial debut for Andoni Iraola against Diego Simeone.
Arsenal won 1-0 away at Napoli through a Martin Odegaard strike from the edge of the box at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, while earlier in the week Real Madrid beat Inter 2-1 through goals from Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde, and Manchester City won 2-0 away at Porto to open Matchday 1 with a perfect record among the league's traditional heavyweights.
Transfer and squad notes
UEFA's 2 September deadline for List A squad submissions meant several deadline-day arrivals across the competition, including PSG's Ferran Torres and Barcelona's Gabriel Jesus, needed to be registered in time to feature on Matchday 1 — both did, and both scored on their debuts.
Manchester United host Sabah on Thursday in their first Champions League campaign in three seasons, with Michael Carrick missing Manuel Ugarte, Amad Diallo, Carlos Baleba, Tom Heaton and Matthijs de Ligt through injury and Marcus Rashford a doubt.
Bayern Munich face Bodo/Glimt at home on Thursday, with the Norwegian side missing midfielder Hakon Evjen and forward August Mikkelsen but arriving on a 20-match unbeaten run across competitions.
What it means for the league
Matchday 1 has produced statement wins for two of the summer's most active transfer-market clubs, with Barcelona and PSG both scoring five-plus while blooding new signings in the same fixture. Liverpool's comeback win under new head coach Andoni Iraola offers early evidence he can get results against elite opposition, while Arsenal's away win at Napoli extends a perfect start for England's Premier League champions on the continental stage. With Manchester United and Bayern still to play their opening fixtures on Thursday, the picture at the top of the new 36-team league phase remains unsettled heading into the rest of the international break.