The goals continued to fly in Tuesday’s Champions League fixtures.
With a remarkable 46 scored last Wednesday, a further 40 were added across the evening’s nine matches — 4.5 per game.
The game of the night was PSG’s 4-2 win over Barcelona in a meeting of European giants. Another two, Bayern Munich and Arsenal, meet in Germany on Wednesday. Both PSG and Barcelona put on sumptuous attacking displays to underline why each remains amongst the favourites to win this season’s competition.
Elsewhere, Liverpool came from behind to beat Villarreal 4-3, inspired by a coming-of-age performance from winger Rio Ngumoha, while another English forward, Phil Foden, grabbed a hat-trick for Manchester City in their 5-1 win over AEK Athens.
Matchday 3 results
Fenerbahce 2-2 Slavia Prague
Sabah FK 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Liverpool 4-2 Villarreal
Manchester City 5-1 AEK Athens
Napoli 4-3 Bodo/Glimt
Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 Barcelona
Porto 0-1 PSV
Roma 4-0 Slovan Bratislava
Stuttgart 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-2 win over Barcelona was a meeting of tournament heavyweights — it felt far closer than the French club’s triumph over Manchester City by the same scoreline last week.
Barcelona visited the Parc des Princes without rested central midfielder Rodri, as well as a host of defensive options, and still went toe-to-toe with the European champions, using four young La Masia graduates to play through the home side’s press with real bravery.
It would be no surprise if these two clubs, draw permitting, meet again in Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano in May’s final.
Barcelona entered on an 11-game winning streak, PSG as the dominant force in the Champions League, as two-time reigning winners.
Desire Doue continued his brilliant European form with another outside-the-box strike, before 19-year-old Xavi Espart burst forward from left-back to draw the visitors level with his first European goal. The level only went up in a frantic and thrilling last 30 minutes of the game.
Desire Doue fired in a superb goal for PSG (Julien De Rosa/AFP via Getty Images)
Four goals in 14 minutes favoured PSG — who showed both their grit and grace by combining Vitinha’s wonderful long-range strike with a set-piece header from Lucas Hernandez and tap-in from Fabian Ruiz. Barcelona, earlier, had levelled it up again through Lamine Yamal’s stunning finish, leaving Marquinhos in treacle before finishing high above goalkeeper Matvei Safonov.
It feels no stretch to say that these are the two best attacks in Europe, and by a fair distance — perhaps only Bayern Munich can make a serious argument against that.
In just three games, PSG have scored 14 goals, the most in the tournament, and Barcelona 11, the third-most. No team has yet found a way to limit their scoring, let alone stop them.
Liverpool looked down and out against Villarreal.
Virgil van Dijk’s horrible attempted clearance allowed Georges Mikautadze to put the Spanish side into an early lead at Anfield, doubled by Sergi Cardona midway through the first half. But midway through the second half, they were winning comfortably — and it was largely down to a teenage winger.
Rio Ngumoha was the subject of an academy tug-of-war as a 15-year-old, considered the top English talent of his age group. Chelsea were furious at his exit.
He broke into Liverpool’s first team last season, scoring the winner in a frantic match against Newcastle United, and was called into an England training camp ahead of the World Cup this summer. A big international future surely beckons.
But having made just one Premier League start this season, Ngumoha’s main chances have come in the Champions League, where he played 84 minutes in last week’s 6-3 win at LASK. He was virtually the only Liverpool attacker to fail to score or assist — but that changed against Villarreal.
Rio Ngumoha was outstanding against Villarreal (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
In first-half injury time, Alexis Mac Allister having earlier pulled one goal back, Ngumoha’s close control sucked three Villarreal defenders out of the game, before sending a looping cross to the far post. Centre-back Ronald Araujo smashed his header home, burying himself in the crowd in celebration.
On 65 minutes, with the score 2-2, Ngumoha kept his width, sped past his man, bounced off another, and found Mac Allister with a cut-back. 3-2.
He is now Liverpool’s youngest goalscorer, the youngest Liverpool player to start a competitive match, their youngest player to appear in Europe, and now the youngest Liverpool player to get a Champions League assist. On a night where young talent sparkled across Europe, he shone brightest.
In many ways, this is Phil Foden’s most important season at Manchester City since breaking into the first team as a teenager eight years ago.
It is his first season without Pep Guardiola as his coach and mentor, a manager whose close bond with the player developed the starlet into one of the best midfielders in Europe — winner of the Premier League Player of the Season in City’s league-winning 2023-24 season.
Since then, however, Foden has struggled — losing his England place and seeing his minutes diminish after the arrival of another brilliant ball technician in Rayan Cherki. A red card against Manchester United for violent conduct felt like a nadir in his City career.
However, his goal against Ipswich on his Premier League return this weekend was his first in 307 days, and here, against AEK Athens, Foden and Cherki started together. They combined brilliantly in a 5-1 win — and in a decisive season, it now feels like Foden is back to his best.
The 26-year-old has always been something of an enigma in terms of his role. He has floated between playing wide, as a No 10, as a No 8, and as a false nine, whilst his best attributes fluctuate with the season. Sometimes he feels a born finisher, other times a creative wizard, often a key figure in build-up. Undeniably, however, too many games have passed him by over the past 18 months.
U.S. readers watch here:
THEY'VE DONE IT AGAIN 😅
Phil Foden and Rico Lewis combine once more for a stunning one-touch finish into the top corner 🎯
Don't miss the #UCL on @paramountplus 📺 pic.twitter.com/3GwqxBNLoK
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 20, 2026
UK readers watch here:
Top bins 🗑️
Phil Foden certainly enjoyed that finish 🎯
📺 Stream now on TNT Sports & HBO Max https://t.co/fRCRh6tXYB pic.twitter.com/DfOl1bOCKM
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 20, 2026
His hat-trick showed the full range of his finishing ability — a clever finish with his right foot, a beautifully placed top-corner strike with his left, and a tap-in from a pocket of space.
City were outclassed last week by Paris Saint-Germain — but with players like Cherki, Foden, and the injured Erling Haaland in the mood, they can still go deep in this season’s Champions League.
It was the summer’s enduring psychodrama.
Atletico Madrid’s star striker, 26-year-old Julian Alvarez, made no secret of his desire to leave the club — desperately seeking to join La Liga rivals Barcelona. Atletico accused Barcelona of “disgusting behaviour”, sending out a string of bizarre social media posts as they sought to protect their asset.
Arsenal retained an interest throughout those months as the Argentine forward agitated, while Real Madrid at one point claimed to have bid €150million for the player.
“It’s a s***show with this kid,” The Athletic reported a senior Atletico source as saying this September.
Ultimately, he would remain after deadline day after Barcelona failed to return to the negotiating table — and faced an awkward reintegration to Atletico’s squad.
Playing predominantly off the bench behind Alex Baena, a key figure in the Spain side that defeated Alvarez’s Argentina in the summer’s World Cup final, and Canadian international Jonathan David, Alvarez was goalless in his first seven appearances of the season.
Facing Stuttgart, and 1-0 down away from home, Alvarez showed why Atletico value him at €150m ($168.5m; £126m)— finding space around the penalty spot and firing a first-time finish into the roof of the net.
Julian Alvarez celebrates equalising for Atletico (Thomas Kienzle/AFP via Getty Images)
They eventually settled for that 1-1 draw after Morten Hjulmand’s second-half red card, ending a six-match winning run. Second in La Liga, five points back from Barcelona, they need a motivated Alvarez if they are to challenge for the title. Tuesday was a sign that his reintegration is progressing.
Wednesday’s fixtures
Como vs Manchester United
Lille vs Galatasaray
Aston Villa vs Viking
Bayern Munich vs Arsenal
Club Brugge vs Lens
Inter vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Real Betis vs Feyenoord
Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig
Sporting vs LASK
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