The UEFA Champions League delivered another entertaining round of fixtures as Paris Saint-Germain defeated Barcelona 4-2, Manchester City swept aside AEK Athens 5-1 and Liverpool recovered from a two-goal deficit to overcome Villarreal 4-3.
Napoli also secured a narrow 4-3 victory over Bodø/Glimt, while Borussia Dortmund, PSV and Roma emerged victorious in their respective matches.
PSG and Liverpool both recorded their third consecutive wins to maintain perfect starts to the league phase.
Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 Barcelona
Paris Saint-Germain defeated Barcelona 4-2 in an entertaining contest in France, with Vitinha playing a decisive role in the closing stages.
Désiré Doué opened the scoring in the 38th minute after creating space for himself and finding the corner of the net.
Barcelona responded after the break through 19-year-old Xavi Espart, who brought the visitors level despite earlier saves from Joan GarcÃa keeping his side in the contest.
Lucas Hernández restored PSG’s advantage with a header in the 72nd minute, but Lamine Yamal produced an excellent finish seven minutes later to make it 2-2.
PSG eventually took control as Vitinha brought down the ball on his chest before finishing accurately. Fabián Ruiz then completed the scoring by converting Achraf Hakimi’s cross.
Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal
Liverpool preserved their perfect record after fighting back from two goals down to beat Villarreal in a seven-goal encounter at Anfield.
Georges Mikautadze capitalised on a mistake by Virgil van Dijk before Sergi Cardona extended Villarreal’s advantage, putting the visitors in a strong position early in the match.
Alexis Mac Allister reduced the deficit with a header from a corner, while Ronald Araújo’s goal brought Liverpool level at 2-2.
Mac Allister struck again before Florian Wirtz scored what proved to be the winning goal for the English side. Tani Oluwaseyi found the net late on for Villarreal, but Liverpool held on for all three points.
Manchester City 5-1 AEK Athens
Manchester City registered an emphatic victory over AEK Athens, with Phil Foden scoring three times to complete a hat-trick.
City made an early impression when Elliot Anderson converted after Enzo Fernández’s free-kick struck the crossbar. Foden doubled the advantage before half-time following a combination with Rico Lewis.
Stavros Pilios pulled one back for the Greek side, but Rayan Cherki responded with an excellent turn and finish to restore City’s two-goal cushion.
Foden then added two more goals to complete his hat-trick and seal a convincing win for Manchester City.
The result left AEK Athens on three points, three behind City.
Other games that went down today:
Napoli 4-3 Bodø/Glimt
AS Roma 4-0 Slovan Bratislava
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Sabah
PSV Eindhoven 1-0 Porto
Stuttgart 1-1 Atlético de Madrid
Fenerbahçe 2-2 Slavia Praha
Wednesday’s Champions League fixtures
The next round of fixtures features several high-profile encounters, including Bayern München against Arsenal and Real Madrid against Leipzig.
Como vs Manchester United — 18:45 CET
Lille vs Galatasaray — 18:45 CET
Aston Villa vs Viking
Club Brugge vs Lens
Bayern München vs Arsenal
Inter vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Real Madrid vs Leipzig
Real Betis vs Feyenoord
Sporting CP vs LASK
