Ferran Torres nets hat-trick on PSG Champions League debut

Ferran Torres marked his Champions League debut for Paris Saint-Germain with a hat-trick as the holders opened the defence of their title with a 6-1 rout of Slovan Bratislava at the Parc des Princes.

Ousmane Dembele scored twice, Torres struck three in succession and Fabian Ruiz added a sixth two minutes from time. PSG, chasing a third successive Champions League title, were 5-0 up inside 57 minutes before Suleiman Camara pulled one back for the Slovak side, coached by former Champions League winner Yaya Toure.

Torres, signed as cover for Goncalo Ramos, was named man of the match, though Luis Enrique pointed elsewhere when asked about the performance. "The player who surprised me most today is Ousmane Dembele! What intensity, with the ball, without the ball... It's a real pleasure. I enjoy watching him every day with the same ambition he has shown these last three years," the PSG coach said, speaking to Canal+.

In his press conference Luis Enrique returned to the same point. He added that the pressing his side applied had created the chances PSG needed, and that starting the European campaign this way mattered after a run of three winless Ligue 1 matches.

Youngster Dro Fernandez, signed from Barcelona last year, played the full 90 minutes, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was not required off the bench. PSG finished the night with 4.71 expected goals.

Elsewhere on the opening matchday, Sporting came from behind to beat Galatasaray 3-1 in Lisbon, Luis Suarez converting a 57th-minute penalty before a Rodrigo Zalazar free-kick sealed it. Barcelona captain Raphinha scored twice in a 5-1 win over Feyenoord in the rain, prompting coach Hansi Flick to strike a cautious note on his side's prospects.

"There is a long way to go until May, but it is true that things look very good because we are training very hard and everyone is hungry," said Hansi Flick.

A hat-trick on his continental bow gives Torres an immediate foothold in PSG's attack, and if Dembele keeps producing the form Luis Enrique described, the champions may have found the firepower their stuttering domestic start had been missing.