Champions League round-up: PSG thrash Atalanta while Inter win at Ajax
It was a signal of intent from the competition holders
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain made their title-retaining intentions known as they ran riot in Paris, thrashing Atalanta 4-0 at the Parc des Princes.
It took all of three minutes for the Luis Enrique’s side to open the scoring, with captain Marquinhos tapping home from a Fabian Ruiz cross.
From there it was one-way traffic. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia added a second with the goal of the night, skipping past several Atalanta defenders before rifling the ball into the net from the edge of the area.
Bradley Barcola then squandered the chance to extend his team’s lead when he missed a 44th-minute penalty.
Ultimately, it mattered very little, Nuno Mendes added a third six minutes after the break before Goncalo Ramos completed the rout in stoppage time as the French champions cruised to victory on matchday one.
At the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, goals from Marcus Thuram either side of half-time gave Inter all three points in their first game back in the competition since the humbling 5-0 defeat at the hands of PSG in last season’s final.
Thuram scored in the 42nd and 47th minute as the Serie A club began this campaign with a victory over Ajax to bounce back from the 4-3 loss to rivals Juventus last weekend.
Elsewhere, El Hadji Youssoupha Mbodji bagged a brace to give Slavia Praha a commanding lead going into the final quarter of an hour of their clash with Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt.
But it was far from a forgone conclusion. Daniel Basi pulled one back for the visitors with 12 minutes to go and the comeback was complete in the 90th minute when Sondre Brunstad Fet found the net to snatch a share of the points in the Czech capital.
Meanwhile, Pafos picked up an impressive point on the road as they held Olympiacos to a goalless draw in Greece.
The task was made all the more difficult for the visitors from nearby Cyprus when Bruno Felipe was sent off after just 26 minutes for two bookable offences.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Cypriot champions proved good value for their point and welcome German giants Bayern Munich to the Alphamega Stadium next time out.