PARIS: Holders Paris Saint-Germain made it three wins from three in this season’s Champions League, beating Barcelona 4-2 thanks to late goals from Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz on Tuesday, while Liverpool secured a dramatic comeback victory over Villarreal.
Phil Foden scored a hat-trick as Manchester City thrashed AEK Athens 5-1, while Roma and Napoli also secured much-needed wins.
PSG maintained their place at the top of the league-phase table, but could yet pay the price for injuries suffered by Ousmane Dembele, Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at the Parc des Princes.
“We don’t feel superior to any team, but we trust in ourselves, in everyone who starts and who comes off the bench,” Paris midfielder Ruiz told Movistar. “There’s still a long way to go.”
Barcelona twice drew level against the two-time defending champions but were ultimately well beaten as they suffered their first defeat of the season.
“We tried to play how we want to play, we pressed them very high. There were a lot of fantastic things on show today,” said Flick, whose team had won their previous 11 games in all competitions this season.
Kvaratskhelia hit the post, Dembele hobbled off and Ferran Torres was denied by Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia in a fast-paced opening.
PSG took a deserved lead in the 38th minute when Desire Doue collected the ball outside the penalty area and thumped a shot into the bottom corner.
Garcia made another excellent save shortly after the break to deny Achraf Hakimi, before Xavi Espart burst through to equalise for Barcelona against the run of play.
Kvaratskhelia and Marquinhos both pulled up injured within seconds of each other and had to leave the field.
The home side continued to press, however, and Lucas Hernandez restored their advantage with a brilliant header 18 minutes from time.
Lamine Yamal powered past Warren Zaire-Emery to equalise again seven minutes later.
But Vitinha hammered home from outside the penalty area in the 81st minute, and Ruiz’s tap-in secured Luis Enrique’s team a second consecutive 4-2 Champions League win after they beat Manchester City by the same scoreline last week.
Liverpool fight back
Liverpool battled back from two goals down to maintain their 100 per cent record, edging Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield.
Liverpool fell behind in the fourth minute when Georges Mikautadze pounced on a terrible error by Virgil van Dijk, before Villarreal defender Sergi Cardona strolled through their defence to make it 2-0.
Alexis Mac Allister pulled one back for the hosts nine minutes before half-time, heading in Kostas Tsimikas’s corner.
Andoni Iraola’s men drew level in first-half stoppage time through Ronald Araujo’s header at the back post after Cardona inexplicably left Rio Ngumoha’s cross.
Mac Allister completed the turnaround by firing home from Ngumoha’s square pass, while half-time substitute Florian Wirtz’s first goal of the season gave the Reds some breathing space.
Tani Oluwaseyi set up a nervy finish for Iraola’s side, but Liverpool held on.
“We are facing very good teams. It’s good to come back, but we’ve started conceding too many goals this season,” Iraola told Amazon Prime.
At the Etihad Stadium, Elliot Anderson put Manchester City ahead with his first goal for the club, before Phil Foden doubled their lead with his second goal in as many games, having also scored against Ipswich at the weekend.
AEK halved the deficit early in the second half through Stavros Pilios, only for Rayan Cherki to sweep home City’s third in the 57th minute.
Foden later scored his second and third goals in a comprehensive victory, despite Erling Haaland being rested after picking up a knock at the weekend.
“Slowly, but surely. Still got a long way to go, but I am going in the right direction,” Foden told TNT Sports, referring to his gradual return to form.
Respite for Serie A clubs
Roma eased to their first Champions League win since 2019 as the capital club brushed aside winless Slovan Bratislava 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.
All four Serie A clubs in the competition lost last week, but Napoli secured a second win in two matches for the Italian sides on Tuesday.
Massimiliano Allegri’s men were pegged back twice by Bodo/Glimt but eventually got the better of the Norwegians in a 4-3 thriller, with Scott McTominay scoring twice.
Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 with Stuttgart in Germany, despite playing much of the second half with 10 men.
Borussia Dortmund ended a run of four consecutive away defeats in the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Sabah in Baku.