Saint-Germain Dethrones City... 'Sextuple' for Liverpool

French champions Paris Saint-Germain returned from the stronghold of Manchester City with a comprehensive 4-2 victory, while French winger Bradley Barcola restored pride to English club Liverpool by scoring a hat-trick in their 6-3 win over Austrian hosts LASK Linz on Tuesday, in the second matchday of the new unified league phase of the UEFA Champions League. The European evening saw 46 goals scored across nine matches, including Aston Villa’s dominant 6-0 victory over Turkish side Fenerbahçe, and Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk’s 3-1 win against Greek side AEK Athens in London, where Shakhtar plays its home fixtures.

After receiving a tactical lesson from the Parisians throughout the first 45 minutes and having their net rattled three times within 32 minutes for the first time in a decade, the English side regained its composure and heightened the drama of this European showdown. The opening goal in this symphony, which PSG settled in grand fashion, came after just ten passes and 20 seconds to move the ball from their defensive areas to the opponent’s goal, before Desire Doue opened the scoring with a precise strike (13'). Less than two minutes later, the young French talent delivered a perfect cross for Ousmane Dembélé to double the lead (15'). In the 32nd minute, Portuguese winger Vitinha added his own touch with a brilliant display, firing a rocket from the edge of the box (32').

However, the second half witnessed a completely different match, as City woke up thanks to substitutions made by their Italian coach Enzo Maresca, particularly the introduction of Moroccan international Ayoub El Kaabi and Senegalese striker Iliman Ndiaye. Both players played a major role in the brace scored by Norwegian striker Erling Haaland (53' and 75'). On the other side, Magnus Kofod Andersen capitalized on a mistake by former PSG goalkeeper and Italian international Gianluigi Donnarumma to score his first Champions League goal for the club (63'), before the Italian keeper later redeemed himself by saving a poorly taken penalty from Spanish winger Ferran Torres (90').

Winger Barcola silenced his critics by ending his goal drought with a hat-trick that led Liverpool to a convincing 6-3 victory over hosts LASK Linz. Barcola had faced criticism for his lackluster performances since his high-profile move from PSG in August for £123 million ($161 million). However, the French striker finally began to justify his hefty price tag by scoring his first goal in a Liverpool shirt in his seventh appearance for the club. Barcola scored two goals (24' and 37') before halftime at the Raiffeisen Arena, after Uruguayan international defender Ronald Araújo gave Liverpool the lead in the 22nd minute with his debut goal for the club. Dutch winger Jeremy Frimpong added a fourth (51') against the Austrian champions, before Barcola completed his hat-trick (66'). Welsh forward Lewis Morgan also found time to score his first Champions League goal, as Liverpool maintained their perfect record in the competition this season after winning their opener against Atlético Madrid. Croatian striker Robert Ljubičić (63') and Florian Flecker (74' and 78') scored for the home side.

Dutch club Feyenoord overturned a 1-0 deficit against Italian visitors Como to win 3-2, including a goal from their Algerian international striker Anis Ben Slimane. Moroccan international winger Abdessamad Ezzelsouli contributed to the second victory for Spanish club Real Betis, who defeated Portuguese visitors Porto 3-2.