The 2026/27 UEFA Champions League league phase continued on Wednesday with a dramatic night of European football as Arsenal, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona all secured victories.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain made the biggest statement of the night, while Barcelona produced an attacking masterclass. Arsenal were forced to work hard for a narrow win in Naples, and Liverpool came from behind to defeat Atletico Madrid at Anfield.
PSG begin title defence in style
Paris Saint-Germain opened their Champions League title defence with a commanding 6-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava at the Parc des Princes.
Ousmane Dembele scored twice before Ferran Torres took centre stage, completing a hat-trick in an impressive European debut for the French champions.
Suleiman Camara scored a consolation for Slovan, but Fabian Ruiz restored PSG’s five-goal advantage late in the match.
The result underlined PSG’s attacking strength as Luis Enrique’s side began their bid for a third consecutive Champions League title in emphatic fashion.
Barcelona cruise past Feyenoord
Barcelona also enjoyed a comfortable start, thrashing Feyenoord 5-1 at home.
Raphinha was the star of the show after scoring twice, while Karim Adeyemi, Lamine Yamal and Gabriel Jesus also found the net for Hansi Flick’s side.
Sem Steijn scored Feyenoord’s only goal, but Barcelona’s attacking quality proved too much for the Dutch visitors as the Spanish giants immediately announced themselves as serious contenders.
Arsenal snatch victory at Napoli
Arsenal secured one of the night’s most important victories with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Napoli.
The Gunners dominated large periods but were made to wait until the 75th minute before Martin Odegaard produced the decisive moment, firing home after a well-worked attacking move.
The victory continued Arsenal’s remarkable Champions League run. The London club had won all eight of their league-phase matches in the previous campaign, and they began the new season with another three points.
Mikel Arteta admitted afterwards that the scoreline did not fully reflect Arsenal’s performance, particularly given the chances they created against a difficult Napoli side.
Liverpool fight back against Atletico Madrid
Liverpool had to come from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at Anfield.
Marcos Llorente put the Spanish side ahead in the 17th minute after a quick Atletico counter-attack.
Liverpool responded before half-time when Dominik Szoboszlai equalised, before Alexis Mac Allister completed the comeback five minutes into the second half with a powerful strike from outside the box.
Atletico pushed for a response but Liverpool held on to begin their Champions League campaign with a valuable victory.
Sporting overturn Galatasaray setback
Sporting CP also recovered from an early setback to defeat Galatasaray 3-1 in Lisbon.
An own goal from Goncalo Inacio handed the Turkish champions a fifth-minute lead, but Sporting responded strongly.
Geny Catamo levelled in the 27th minute before Luis Suarez converted a penalty after the break to put the Portuguese side ahead.
Rodrigo Zalazar then produced a superb free-kick to seal the victory and complete Sporting’s comeback.
Demirovic inspires Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart completed the night’s other victory with a 3-1 home win over Viking.
The Norwegian side briefly threatened after Zlatko Tripic cancelled out Ermedin Demirovic’s opener, but the Stuttgart forward quickly restored the hosts’ advantage.
Demirovic completed his hat-trick within a remarkable 12-minute spell in the first half, giving Stuttgart a commanding lead they never surrendered.
The result gave Stuttgart an impressive start to their Champions League league-phase campaign.
A night of strong statements
Wednesday’s results produced a mixture of dominant performances and hard-fought victories.
PSG and Barcelona made the loudest statements with emphatic wins, while Arsenal demonstrated their ability to grind out results in difficult away fixtures. Liverpool also showed character by recovering from an early deficit against Atletico.
With another round of fixtures still to come on Thursday, including Manchester United’s meeting with Sabah and Bayern Munich’s clash with Bodo/Glimt, the opening matchday of the new Champions League campaign is already delivering plenty of drama.
