Enrique Praises the "Amazing" Dembélé

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique, the Spanish manager of the French and European champions, praised his international winger Ousmane Dembele, the Ballon d’Or winner, for his “stunning” performance in PSG’s heavy 6-1 victory over Slovak side Slovan Bratislava, marking the start of their title defense in the UEFA Champions League.

Enrique said: “That was the Ousmane we all know and have seen over the past three years. When you see his ability to create chances, press, and help the team, you feel genuine happiness.”

Dembele has featured sparingly for his club since the start of the season as he gradually works to regain full physical fitness following the World Cup. Enrique added, “He played wonderfully. He will gradually regain his fitness, but it is truly wonderful to see a player with such potential.”

Dembele not only scored PSG’s first and second goals (17th and 23rd minutes) but also provided two assists for Spanish forward Ferran Torres, who celebrated a hat-trick in his European debut for Saint-Germain, scoring in the 31st, 47th, and 57th minutes. The other Parisian goal was scored by fellow Spaniard Fabian Ruiz in the 88th minute.

Enrique also praised his Ivorian counterpart Yaya Touré, manager of Slovan Bratislava, despite his team’s heavy defeat. He said, “It is difficult to play away against the team that won the title in the past two years, but I loved the way they tried to play football.”

The Ivory Coast and former Barcelona and Manchester City star Yaya Touré is the first African manager to lead a team in the main phase of the Champions League.

At Camp Nou, Barcelona began their campaign with a crushing 5-1 victory over visitors Feyenoord. The Blaugrana’s win was thanks to a brace from Brazilian Raphinha (3rd and 57th minutes), and goals from German Karim Adeyemi (22nd), Lamine Yamal (77th), and new Brazilian signing Gabriel Jesus, who scored just two minutes after coming on (85th minute). Sime Nieuwkoop scored Feyenoord’s lone goal in the 82nd minute.

Arsenal’s 13th consecutive win

Norwegian international midfielder Martin Ødegaard led Arsenal to a valuable victory in Italy, scoring the only goal against hosts Napoli with a 1-0 win in the 75th minute, following an assist from new Belgian club Club Brugge signing Greek international Christos Tzolis.

Arsenal, who achieved a perfect record of eight wins from eight matches during last season’s league phase, extended their Champions League group stage winning streak to 13 consecutive victories.

At Anfield, Liverpool overturned a deficit to secure an important opening win against visitors Atlético Madrid 2-1. After Marcus Yurientti gave Atlético the lead (17th minute), Liverpool responded with two goals through Hungarian Dominik Szoboszlai (40th) and Argentine Alexis Mac Allister (50th).

Portuguese side Sporting CP followed Liverpool’s example, overturning the scoreline to defeat Turkish visitors Galatasaray 3-1. German side Stuttgart beat Dutch side Viking 3-1.