Twelve of the eighteen matchday one games have been played. Six more follow on Thursday. Two nights in, the league phase has produced two hat-tricks, a 6-1, and four wins from four for the English clubs.


The holders scored six and a Ballon d'Or nominee took the ball home


Paris Saint-Germain beat Slovan Bratislava 6-1. Ousmane Dembélé scored twice inside 23 minutes. Ferran Torres, at PSG since the summer, scored three in 26 minutes either side of the break, on 31, 47 and 57. Fabián Ruiz added the sixth on 87.


Dembélé, Ferran and Fabián Ruiz were all named on the Ballon d'Or shortlist on Tuesday. PSG have ten of the thirty nominees and looked it.


Four English clubs, four wins


Aston Villa won 3-2 at Club Brugge, John McGinn, Emiliano Buendía and Nicolas Jackson scoring inside 43 minutes before Brugge came back to within one. Manchester City won 2-0 at Porto with two Erling Haaland goals and did not concede a shot on target. Arsenal won 1-0 at Napoli through Martin Ødegaard on 75. Liverpool came from behind to beat Atlético Madrid 2-1.


Manchester United face Sabah on Thursday.


Madrid won with a third of the ball, Barcelona with three quarters of it


Real Madrid beat Inter 2-1 having had 35.6 per cent of it, two goals in nine minutes from Kylian Mbappé and Federico Valverde and then seven Thibaut Courtois saves. Barcelona beat Feyenoord 5-1 with 71.6 per cent, Raphinha twice and Lamine Yamal involved in three.


Two ways to win the same three points, on consecutive nights, from the two clubs everyone watches.


The rest of it


Ermedin Demirović scored the other hat-trick, three in twelve minutes as Stuttgart beat Viking 3-1. Serhou Guirassy scored twice, one from the spot, as Borussia Dortmund edged Villarreal 3-2.


Real Betis won 3-2 at Lille having trailed twice, Marc Bartra scoring both equalisers and Troy Parrott the winner on 53. Sporting recovered from an own goal to beat Galatasaray 3-1. AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0 through a Razvan Marin free kick, the only goal of the quietest game of the two nights.


Thursday completes it


Bayern Munich host Bodø/Glimt, Manchester United host Sabah, Como play Leipzig, Fenerbahçe play Roma, PSV play Shakhtar Donetsk and Slavia Prague play Lens.


Matchday two is at the end of the month, and on this evidence the table after it will be shaped by who drew whom rather than by who is any good.