Lewandowski and Zielinski shine in Barca and Napoli's emphatic Champions League wins

Midfielder Franck Kessie put Barca in front in the 13th minute, heading in his first goal for the club following a corner. Lewandowski extended their lead with a right-footed finish into the bottom corner in the 37th, after Barca had survived a scare which almost led to them conceding a penalty and having a man sent off. Viktoria were awarded a penalty and Barca defender Andreas Christensen was shown a red card for hauling down Jhon Mosquera but a VAR review showed Mosquera had struck Christensen with an elbow and the decision was overturned, the Plzen forward being shown a yellow card instead. Plzen pulled themselves back into the game in the 44th minute with a header from Jan Sykora but Barca quickly restored their two-goal cushion when Lewandowski produced a diving header from an Ousmane Dembele cross in first-half stoppage time. The Poland striker completed his treble midway through the second period, meeting a layoff from Ferran Torres and curling the ball inside the far post with one touch. "That's how Robert is, insatiable," said coach Xavi Hernandez of the striker Barca paid Bayern Munich 45 million euros for in a big summer of spending in a bid to return the club to past glories.

"The way he trains, the way he helps the team, his humility, his work-rate...I can't praise him enough because it's not just about his hat-trick, it's the way he works, how he knows to dominate the tempo of the game," Xavi added. It was Lewandowski's sixth hat-trick in the Champions League and he became the first player in the competition's history to score one for three different clubs, having netted trebles for Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. Torres completed a hugely satisfying evening for Xavi Hernandez's side by scoring the fifth goal to put Barca top of Group C. They head to Bayern next on Sept. 13, when Plzen host Inter Milan. It was a near-perfect night for Barca and in stark contrast to their first game of the competition last season, when they were outclassed and beaten 3-0 by Bayern on their way to crashing out at the group stage for the first time in 21 years. "It was a complete game, we dominated them," added Xavi. "They defended well, they man-marked us but Dembele was brilliant and Lewandowski made the difference. We were the superior team and I'm delighted with the players who came off the bench as well as those who started. Everyone was really up for it."

Liverpool, Champions League runners-up last season, suffered a shock 4-1 defeat by Napoli in their opening Group A game at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday. The Italian side were magnificent in the opening 45 minutes, going in 3-0 up at the break having opened up a woeful Liverpool defence at will. Juergen Klopp's team looked nothing like the side who reached the final last season, disorganised at the back and lacking any edge in midfield or attack. Napoli have now beaten Liverpool on all three occassions they have hosted them in the competition's group stage and Luciano Spalletti's side will feel they have a real chance of getting out of a group that also features Ajax and Rangers. Napoli were quick out of the blocks with Victor Osimhen hitting the post in the second minute and three minutes later they grabbed the lead when James Milner handled in the box and Piotr Zieliński converted the penalty. Napoli were opening up Liverpool with ease and were awarded a second penalty when a VAR review ruled that Osimhen had been brought down by Virgil van Dijk. The Napoli forward opted to take the kick himself but his effort was saved by Alisson Becker. Van Dijk had to clear off the line to keep out an effort by the outstanding Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after Osimhen had robbed a struggling Joe Gomez.

Gomez lost out again leading to the second goal when Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa played a quick one-two with Zieliński and slotted in off the inside of the post.

Liverpool had a brief spell of pressure, Van Dijk forcing a save out of Napoli keeper Alex Meret with a header and Harvey Elliott putting the ball wide from close range at the back post. But Napoli were devastating in possession and substitute Giovanni Simeone made it 3-0 just before the break, slotting home after Kvaratskhelia had beaten Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez before slipping the ball across. Liverpool replaced Gomez with Joel Matip but within two minutes of the restart Napoli went 4-0 up. Simeone found Zieliński and the Pole's shot was blocked by Alisson before he reacted sharply to poke the ball home. Klopp's side pulled a goal back two minutes later thanks to a fine curling shot from Luis Diaz but there was no way back for the English side. "We were miles too open. You can't come to a place like this and not be compact. They were by miles the better team," said Liverpool left back Andy Robertson. "Too many times they had spaces to run at us and cause us problems. You come away in the Champions League and you can't be wide open like that. We have to get back to basics and be compact," he added. "We have to wake up and quickly because we can't perform like that." For Napoli it was time to dream of more to come. "It was almost the perfect match. We don’t know how far we can go from here," said Zieliński.