Paris St-Germain begin Champions League title defence with victory

By Ama Serwah — 9 September 2026 — 3 min read

Paris St-Germain commenced their Champions League title defence with a 6-1 home victory over Slovan Bratislava. New signing Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick, contributing to the emphatic win. Ousmane Dembele also scored twice for the French side.

Dembele opened the scoring after 17 minutes, converting a rebound after Nuno Mendes’ shot hit the post. Six minutes later, Dembele headed in from Dro Fernandez’s deflected cross, punishing Slovan Bratislava for playing out from the back. Dembele then assisted Torres for his first goal, providing a cross that left Torres with a tap-in.

Torres, a Spanish World Cup winner who joined from Barcelona in the summer, scored his second goal two minutes after the break following a run and lay-off by Maghnes Akliouche. He completed his hat-trick by turning in Dembele’s corner from inside the penalty box.

Suleiman Camara scored a consolation goal for Slovan Bratislava, shifting onto his right foot and unleashing a shot into the top corner. Fabian Ruiz added a sixth goal for Paris St-Germain late in the game. The win marks a strong start in Europe for PSG, who have not yet secured a win in Ligue 1 this season, having drawn twice and lost once, placing them 13th in the French league.

Other Champions League Results

Elsewhere in the Champions League, Sporting overturned an early deficit to defeat Galatasaray 3-1 in Lisbon. Galatasaray took the lead through an own goal from Goncalo Inacio in the fifth minute. However, Geny Catamo equalised for Sporting in the 27th minute. Luis Suarez converted a penalty in the 57th minute to give Sporting the lead, and Rodrigo Zalazar sealed the win with a free-kick six minutes later.

Barcelona, led by captain Raphinha, secured a 5-1 victory against Feyenoord. Raphinha scored twice, with Karim Adeyemi, Lamine Yamal, and Gabriel Jesus also scoring for Barcelona. Sem Steijn scored Feyenoord’s consolation goal.

In another match, Ermedin Demirovic scored a hat-trick in 12 minutes during the first half, leading VfB Stuttgart to a 3-1 home victory over Viking Stavanger. Demirovic opened the scoring in the 20th minute, but Viking equalised two minutes later through Zlatko Tripic. Demirovic quickly re-established the lead in the 26th minute and completed his hat-trick six minutes later.

Slovan Bratislava’s manager, Yaya Toure, is set to become the first African manager to participate in the UEFA Champions League. As a player, he made 70 appearances in the competition and lifted the trophy once in 2008-09 with Barcelona.

Paris St-Germain manager Luis Enrique has a win percentage of 63% in his UEFA Champions League games as manager, having won 50 of his matches. This is noted as the highest win percentage among individuals who have overseen 50 or more matches.

The only previous meetings between Paris SG and Slovan Bratislava were in the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League group stage, where the French side drew 0-0 away and won 1-0 at home.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been involved in 21 goals in his last 24 UEFA Champions League appearances, including 16 in 16 games last season. Tigran Barseghyan has been directly involved in three goals in his last four UEFA Champions League appearances, including one goal and two assists.

Vitinha’s 1,589 passes completed in 2025-26 were the most by a player in a single UEFA Champions League edition on record since 2003-04. His 238 line-breaking passes were also the most by any individual in the previous edition. Willian Pacho has played more minutes than any other player across the last two seasons in the UEFA Champions League, starting in all 34 of Paris SG’s games in the competition during this period.

Six additional fixtures are scheduled for Thursday, including Manchester United at home against Azeri debutants Sabah.