thrash

Lamine Yamal scores twice and assists another as Spain beat Croatia 4-1 in UEFA Nations League Group A3.

Lamine Yamal scored twice as World Cup winners Spain extended their European record unbeaten run to 40 matches.

La Roja maintained their perfect start to UEFA Nations League Group A3 with a 4-1 home win over Croatia on Tuesday, while England overcame 10-man Czech Republic 2-0 in Prague to leapfrog Slaven Bilic’s side into second.

In a repeat of the 2023 Nations League final, which Spain won on penalties, Croatia recovered from conceding an early goal to equalise but were unable to resist a Spanish side fresh from a 3-2 win over England at Wembley on Saturday.

Spain’s first home game since lifting the World Cup in July was preceded by Rodri parading the trophy on the pitch. The celebrations continued in Seville when Lamine, just as he did against England, opened the scoring in the second minute.

Alex Baena’s ball into the area was dummied by Fermin Lopez, and Lamine curled a first-time low shot inside the far post.

Baena then had an effort parried away by Croatia keeper Dominik Livakovic as Spain looked set to put the game out of reach early on, but the visitors drew level through Dion Beljo’s 28th-minute header.

Spain took less than three minutes to retake the lead. Lamine whipped a cross into the six-yard box from the right wing and Marc Pubill powered a header beyond Livakovic.

Lamine scored his second and Spain’s third in the 63rd minute, collecting Pedri’s pass in the box before drilling his shot into the net from a tight angle. Substitute Nico Williams wrapped up the win with an 89th-minute goal.

North Korea, enjoying support in the stands, were up 7-0 by half-time and are the favourites for the gold.

North Korea’s formidable women’s football team, cheered on by several hundred pro-Pyongyang fans in Osaka, Japan, launched their Asian Games campaign with a 10-0 hammering of Bangladesh.

The North Koreans have enjoyed stunning international success at the youth level and start among the favourites for gold in Japan.

They were far too hot for Bangladesh to handle and were seven goals ahead by half-time on Monday.

Striker Ri Song-a, who was born and raised in Japan, was in North Korea’s starting lineup and scored in the second half.

North Korea were cheered on by a large group of red-clad fans, who sang and chanted throughout the match.

The men’s and women’s football teams were welcomed by supporters waving flags as they arrived for the games last week wearing white blazers and pink ties.

More than 100 North Koreans are set to compete in 14 sports at the games, which take place in Nagoya-Aichi and officially open on September 19.

North Korea suspended participation in international sporting competitions during the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned at the Asian Games in China in 2023 and also took part in the Paris Olympics.

North Korea’s women face South Korea in a Group F grudge match on September 21.

The men’s team begin their campaign against China on Wednesday.

PARIS, France: Holders Paris Saint-Germain made a smooth start to their bid for a third consecutive Champions League title as Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 rout of Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, while Liverpool came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona kicked off their campaign by scoring five goals against Feyenoord, while Arsenal impressed with a 1-0 win at Napoli.

PSG, who are hoping to become only the fourth club to win three European Cups in a row, visit Manchester City and host Barca in their next two European games.

“It is the Champions League, we always play against tough teams, but we have to be focused first in Ligue 1 because we didn’t start in the right way,” said Torres, with PSG yet to win a domestic game this season.

But they wasted little time in picking apart Yaya Toure’s Slovan at the Parc des Princes.

Ousmane Dembele hammered in a rebound and then nodded in a deflected cross to put Luis Enrique’s men two goals ahead inside 22 minutes.

Torres tapped home Dembele’s cross just after the half-hour mark and drilled in his second less than two minutes after the restart.

Spain’s World Cup final hero completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute, shanking a shot with his knee that spun into the bottom corner.

Suleiman Camara crashed in a consolation for Slovan, but Fabian Ruiz had the final say for PSG when he pounced on a mishit clearance.

Liverpool made it successive victories after winning at Ipswich in the Premier League last week by beating Atletico 2-1 at Anfield.

Atletico grabbed a 17th-minute lead as Julian Alvarez, starting for the first time this season after failing to force a move away from the club, played in Marcos Llorente to dink the ball over Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

Llorente has now scored five times in three visits to Anfield, after netting a double at Liverpool last season and in Atletico’s dramatic last-16 victory in 2020.

Liverpool hit back five minutes before the break through Dominik Szoboszlai, courtesy of a clever backheeled pass from Ronald Araujo.

Alexis Mac Allister then hammered the hosts in front five minutes into the second half with a left-footed strike from outside the box, and Atletico could not find a response.

“I’ve loved it. The atmosphere has been incredible and I feel lucky, lucky to experience it,” said Liverpool’s new manager Andoni Iraola after his Champions League coaching debut.

Odegaard sinks Napoli

Arsenal missed several first-half chances at the Stadio Armando Diego Maradona, with Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret making an excellent save to keep out Mikel Merino’s header.

Piero Hincapie fired over a golden chance from just three yards out as the English champions continued to push after half-time, but last season’s runners-up finally forged ahead with 15 minutes left.

Martin Odegaard, who scored the winner against Chelsea at the weekend, played a clever one-two with Christos Tzolis on the edge of the area and crashed a shot in off the far post.

Barcelona made an excellent start to their latest bid to end a 12-year wait to lift the trophy, as Raphinha continued his superb form by scoring twice in a 5-1 thumping of Feyenoord.

Hansi Flick’s men, who lost to Atletico in the quarter-finals last season, have won all five of their matches in all competitions so far this season, scoring five goals in four of them.

“We controlled the game, we are dominant and this is fantastic to see. This is our style and how we want to play,” said Flick.

Raphinha put Barca into a third-minute lead before a brilliant long-range strike from summer signing Karim Adeyemi.

Brazilian Raphinha, playing up front this season after the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Torres, made it eight goals already for the campaign in the second half.

Lamine Yamal netted a free-kick which crept through the wall, and although Sem Steijn pulled one back for Feyenoord, Gabriel Jesus came off the bench and then headed in his first Barca goal.

Ermedin Demirovic scored a first-half hat-trick as Stuttgart eased to a 3-1 home win over Norwegian champions Viking, playing in the competition for the first time in 34 years.

Sporting, quarter-finalists last season for the first time since 1983, fought back to see off Galatasaray 3-1 in Lisbon.