Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick while Ousmane Dembele shone as Paris Saint-Germain kicked off their journey to win a third straight Champions League title by beating Slovan Bratislava 6-1 at Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
Last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Dembele scored two goals before the first half ended. He also assisted Torres, who scored to make it 3-0 before halftime.
Torres, who joined from Barcelona, netted two more goals just after the break to complete his hat-trick before the hour mark. Suleiman Camara scored for Slovan, but Fabian Ruiz added another goal to seal the win for PSG.
A win for PSG was expected given the difference in resources between the two clubs. This match served as a warm-up for Luis Enrique’s team as they prepare for tougher challenges in the league phase.
PSG aims to follow in the footsteps of Real Madrid, who won the Champions League three times in a row from 2016 to 2018. Only Real, Ajax, and Bayern Munich have won the trophy three years running in the history of the old European Cup.
Next month, PSG will face teams looking to end their reign, with matches against Manchester City and Barcelona lined up in October.
On the other hand, Slovan hopes to improve on their last appearance in the league phase two years ago, where they lost all eight matches.
Slovan is now coached by Yaya Toure, a former City and Barcelona player. He is the first African to coach a team in Europe’s top club competition.
PSG scored their first goal after just 17 minutes. Nuno Mendes hit a powerful shot that crashed off the post. The ball fell to Dembele, who controlled it well and slotted it in.
The second goal came soon after. A shot by young midfielder Dro Fernandez deflected perfectly for Dembele to head in.
Dembele is also in the running for this year’s Ballon d’Or, and nine of his PSG teammates are also nominated for the award to be given out next month in London.
Torres is among those candidates, thanks to his winning goal for Spain against Argentina in the World Cup final in July.
Torres converted a great cross from Dembele to score his first goal, making it 3-0 in the 31st minute. He later set up Dembele, but the French forward’s shot hit the bar after a great chance.
The score was 4-0 just two minutes into the second half. Torres controlled the ball and fired in from the edge of the area after a lovely run by his new teammate Maghnes Akliouche.
Mendes had a goal disallowed for offside before Torres scored again, guiding a Dembele corner into the net with his knee for PSG’s fifth goal.
Slovan might have wanted to give up, but they fought back a bit. Gambian winger Camara pulled one back with a nice strike.
However, Ruiz, another of Spain's World Cup stars, scored late on to make it 6-1.
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