Ferran Torres nets hat-trick as PSG's hunt for a third straight title begins
Ferran Torres marked his first Champions League appearance for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) with a hat-trick on Wednesday, powering the defending champions to a 6-1 win over Slovan Bratislava at the Parc des Princes as Luis Enrique's side began their pursuit of an unprecedented third straight European title.
Ousmane Dembele also shone alongside his new teammate, opening the scoring in the first half before setting up Torres for a second, with the summer signing from Barcelona then adding a further two goals of his own shortly after the restart to complete his treble before the hour mark.
Dembele had put PSG in front inside 17 minutes, pouncing after Nuno Mendes struck the post from outside the box, controlling the loose ball before slotting home.
He doubled the lead soon after when a deflected effort from young midfielder Dro Fernandez fell perfectly into his path, allowing him to head in from close range.
Torres made it three shortly before the half hour mark, converting an inviting cross from Dembele, before returning the favour with a delightful ball across goal that almost handed the Frenchman his own hat trick, only for goalkeeper Dominik Takac to tip the effort onto the underside of the bar.
The floodgates opened further after the break. Torres struck again two minutes into the second half, finishing from the edge of the area after a driving run from fellow new arrival Maghnes Akliouche, before completing his hat trick soon after by guiding home a Dembele corner with his knee, having also seen Mendes have a separate effort ruled out for offside in between.
Slovan Bratislava, managed by former Manchester City and Barcelona player Yaya Toure, the first African coach to lead a side in Europe's premier club competition, refused to be completely overrun, with Gambian winger Suleiman Camara pulling a goal back with a fine strike late on.
Fabian Ruiz added gloss to the scoreline soon after, prodding home a loose ball to complete the rout at 6-1.
Anything less than a comfortable win would have surprised few given the gulf in resources between the two sides, with the result serving largely as a warm up ahead of considerably sterner tests awaiting PSG later in the league phase, including trips against Manchester City and a home meeting with Barcelona in October.
Should PSG go on to complete the three peat, they would become only the second club in the modern Champions League era to win the competition in three consecutive seasons, following Real Madrid's run between 2016 and 2018.
Only Real, Ajax and Bayern Munich managed the feat during the days of the old European Cup.
Dembele, considered among the frontrunners for this year's Ballon d'Or, was one of ten PSG players named among the 30 nominees for the award, with Torres also included following his decisive goal in Spain's World Cup final victory over Argentina in July, with the ceremony set to take place in London next month.