Torres CL hat-trick makes PSG history

PARIS (AP):

Just arrived at Paris Saint-Germain, Ferran Torres is already rewriting the club’s record books.

The Spain World Cup final hero scored a hat-trick as PSG thrashed Slovan Bratislava 6-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

He became the first player in the club’s history to score three goals in his first Champions League appearance.

Torres is also the first player to score on his Champions League debut for PSG since Neymar and Kylian Mbappé did so against Celtic on September 12, 2017.

The defending champions strengthened their star-studded attack by signing Torres from Barcelona on a five-year contract this summer.

The 26-year-old forward scored Spain’s winning goal in extra time of the World Cup final against Argentina in July. It was his only goal of the tournament, and he said it was “scored by 47 million people”, referring to Spain’s population.

More a roaming forward than a prolific scorer, Torres netted 65 goals in 207 appearances for Barcelona, including a career-best 21 in all competitions last season.

Torres briefly played alongside PSG forward Ousmane Dembélé during the France star’s spell at Barcelona. Dembélé scored PSG’s opening goal of the new Champions League campaign against Slovan Bratislava and also set up one goal in each half for Torres.

Torres appears to have settled quickly in Paris. He is only the second player in PSG history to score at least five goals in his first four matches across all competitions, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic.