Napoli opened their Champions League group stages with a thrashing of a struggling Liverpool while Barcelona also continued their win streak against Viktoria Plzen in their “group of death” opener.
By far the most jolting result of the night came when Napoli ran Liverpool out of the park at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to win 4-1 in their Champions League opener. The home side outworked Jurgen Klopp’s men from the first whistle and sealed the contest during a 3-0 first half.
Piotr Zieliński opened the scoring in just the 5th minute from the penalty spot after a James Milner handball. Victor Osimhen missed another penalty in the 13th minute before Van Dijk’s last-ditch clearance augured things to come.
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa found the net in the 31st minute before Giovanni Simeone added a third before half-time.
Things would only get worse from there as Zieliński got on the scoresheet again in the 47th minute before Luis Diaz managed a consolation goal for the visitors.
Meanwhile, Barcelona managed to get their campaign off to an auspicious start with a 5-1 win over Viktoria Plzen.
A day after Haaland and Mbappe scored braces each, Robert Lewandowski reminded them of his supremacy by netting a hattrick for the Catalans. Franck Kessié opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a header before the Lewandowski and Dembele show began.
The Pole scored his first goal in the 34th minute before Plzen were given a brief hope as Jan Sýkora found the net for the visitors.
Lewandowski restored the two-goal cushion before halftime after Dembele masterfully found him with an inch-perfect cross. He completed his hattrick in the second half with a wonderfully placed shot before Ferran Torres completed the scoreline with Dembele once again assisting the goal.
Their next opponents, Bayern Munich also secured a 2-0 win against Inter Milan while Tottenham, Ajax, and Atletico Madrid also registered opening day wins.
