Paris Saint-Germain began their defence of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) title with a dominant 4-0 victory over Atalanta at the Parc des Princes, ending La Dea’s eight-game unbeaten run in away matches at this stage of the competition.
The French champions started at a blistering pace, taking the lead after just three minutes. Captain Marquinhos initiated a high press, won the ball back deep in Atalanta’s half, and continued his run into the box to finish off a pass from Fabian Ruiz.
Les Parisiens maintained relentless pressure throughout the opening minutes. Nuno Mendes and Senny Mayulu both had shots deflected behind, while Bradley Barcola and Achraf Hakimi were denied by brilliant saves from Marco Carnesecchi. Atalanta had a fleeting moment of respite when Odilon Kossounou sent an attempt harmlessly over the crossbar.
PSG found the net again, but Barcola was caught marginally offside before getting to a through ball from Ruiz. Atalanta began to find their footing and limit the hosts, with Mario Pasalic heading a cross from Raoul Bellanova behind.
However, any signs of an Atalanta comeback were quickly dismissed when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia sliced through their defence with a weaving run before smashing the ball past Carnesecchi to double PSG’s lead. Just before halftime, Barcola missed an opportunity to make it three when his penalty, awarded for a foul on Marquinhos by Yunus Musah, was saved by Carnesecchi.
Atalanta coach Ivan Juric made two changes at halftime, but they proved futile as PSG scored their third goal just six minutes into the restart. A wonderful passing move culminated in Nuno Mendes expertly beating Marten de Roon and firing a shot from an impossibly tight angle into the net.
PSG were dealt a blow when Joao Neves had to leave the pitch injured before the hour mark, but it did not affect their dominance, as Lucas Chevalier saved an attempt from Nikola Krstovic to keep the clean sheet intact.
The final goal of the night came after a tired backpass from Raoul Bellanova was intercepted by Goncalo Ramos, who calmly dinked the ball over Carnesecchi to seal the convincing victory. The result sees PSG continue their perfect start to the season and makes a strong statement in their defence of the UCL trophy. It also marks Atalanta’s first defeat of the campaign after two draws and a win in Serie A.
