ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI MARKED marked his first Champions League game for Barcelona with a hat-trick as Xavi Hernandez’s side thrashed Viktoria Plzen 5-1 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Barca, who failed to get past the group stage last season, also saw Franck Kessie and Ferran Torres score in an accomplished display.
Barca took the lead in the 13th minute as Kessie nodded the ball home after Jules Kounde had headed Ousmane Dembele’s corner back across goal.
It was the Ivorian midfielder’s first goal for the club since signing from AC Milan in the close season.
Ansu Fati almost doubled the advantage midway through the first half, but his effort was saved by visiting goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek.
Plzen were awarded a penalty in the 25th minute as Andreas Christensen brought down Jhon Mosquera, but the referee changed his mind after a VAR review and instead gave a free-kick to Barca.
Lewandowski becomes the first player to score a hat-trick for 3 different teams in the #UCL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0wj3PtgZOr
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 7, 2022
Lewandowski moved ahead of Karim Benzema into third place on the all-time Champions League goalscoring charts with his 87th in the competition, and first for his new club.
The 34-year-old curled a low shot into the bottom corner from just inside the area in the 34th minute.
The Czechs gave themselves a lifeline shortly before the break as Jan Sykora headed in Vaclav Jemelka’s cross.
But Plzen could not stay within a goal until half-time as Lewandowski stooped unmarked to head Dembele’s cross over the line.
Lewandowski completed his sixth Champions League hat-trick with a fine low strike from distance in the 67th minute.
Xavi’s men wasted little time in making it five, as substitute Ferran Torres drilled a brilliant volley on the turn into the top corner from Dembele’s chipped pass.
There will be tougher tests to come for the five-time European champions with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan also in Group C.
The Catalan giants visit the Allianz Arena next Tuesday in a real test of how far they have come in the last 12 months, after Bayern’s opening 2-0 win at the San Siro.
A first-half goal from Leroy Sané and a Danilo D’Ambrosio own goal ensured victory for Julian Nagelsmann’s outfit.
Rangers fell to a 4-0 hammering by Ajax in the Group A opener in the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Midfielder Edson Alvarez headed in from a corner in the 17th minute before Gers defender James Sands redirected a Steven Berghuis shot into his own net after 32 minutes with Mohammed Kudus thundering in a drive a minute later.
In the Gers’ first Champions League group game in 12 years, Steven Bergwijn added a fourth with 10 minutes remaining.
Marcus Edwards, Francisco Trincao and Nuno Santos all scored for Sporting in Germany as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Frankfurt. In the group’s other game, Richarlison’s first goals for Tottenham saw them mark their Champions League return with a 2-0 win over 10-man Marseille.
19-year-old Abakar Sylla was awarded man of the match after helping Club Brugge to a 1-0 win versus Bayer Leverkusen.
Finally, Atletico Madrid beat Porto in an extraordinary 2-1 triumph featuring three stoppage-time goals.
Mario Hermoso’s strike put Atletico ahead, but moments later his handball allowed Mateus Uribe convert from the penalty spot. Porto were reduced to ten men when striker Mehdi Taremi was shown a second yellow card.
In the 11th minute of injury time, substitute Antoine Griezmann snatched victory for Diego Simeone’s side with virtually the final touch as he headed in at the far post following a flick-on at a corner.
Champions League Matchday Two results
Group A
Ajax 4 – 0 Rangers
Napoli 4 – 1 Liverpool
Group B
Atletico Madrid 2 – 1 FC Porto
Club Brugge 1 – 0 Bayer Leverkusen
Group C
Barcelona 5 – 1 Viktoria Plzen
Inter Milan 0 – 2 Bayern Munich
Group D
Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 0 Marseille
Eintracht Frankfurt 0 – 3 Sporting
