Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City emerged as the standout performers in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League group stage matches, securing commanding victories in high-scoring encounters.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain overcame Barcelona with a dramatic 4-2 win at Parc des Princes. PSG opened the scoring in the 38th minute through Désiré Doué. Barcelona, driven by 19-year-old Xavi Espart, responded promptly to equalize in the 55th. The match continued in a back-and-forth fashion, with Lucas Hernandez putting PSG ahead again in the 72nd, only for Lamine Yamal to level for Barcelona seven minutes later. However, PSG ultimately secured the three points with late goals from Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz, sealing a thrilling victory.
Manchester City convincingly defeated AEK Athens 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium, powered by a hat-trick from Phil Foden. The visitors briefly challenged the hosts when Stavros Pilios scored in the 52nd minute to reduce the deficit. Yet, City dominated the narrative with an opening goal from Elliot Anderson in the 12th minute and Foden adding the second just before halftime. Rayan Cherki restored City’s two-goal cushion shortly after AEK’s reply, and Foden’s two additional goals in the 65th and 76th minutes completed his hat-trick and the decisive win.
Elsewhere on the evening, Liverpool mounted a remarkable comeback to defeat Villarreal 4-3 in a closely contested match. Napoli edged out Bodo/Glimt 4-3, with Scott McTominay netting twice. Roma delivered a dominant performance with a 4-0 victory over Slovan Bratislava. PSV Eindhoven earned a narrow 1-0 win at Porto, while VfB Stuttgart were held to a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid, who played most of the match with 10 men. Borussia Dortmund secured a 2-1 win at Sabah, thanks to a brace from Serhou Guirassy. In a separate fixture, Slavia Prague scored late to salvage a 2-2 draw against Fenerbahce.
The results reinforce the strength of PSG and Manchester City as the competition progresses, while other top European clubs experienced mixed fortunes in their opening group matches.