Paris Saint-Germain put on another Champions League masterclass on Tuesday night, thrashing Villarreal 6-0 at Estadio de la Cerámica to stay unbeaten through four matches in this season's league phase and stretch an unbeaten run in all competitions to ten straight games.
Fabián Ruiz scored twice, either side of halftime, as PSG raced to a four-goal lead inside the first 17 minutes and never let up. João Neves opened the scoring from a ninth-minute corner, Désiré Doué doubled it three minutes later after Maghnes Akliouche carved the Villarreal defense open, and Senny Mayulu made it three within 60 seconds of that, working space for himself in the box before firing into the top corner. Ruiz got the fourth before the quarter-hour mark was up, converting after another Akliouche assist.
No Let-Up After the Break
Villarreal goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi had kept the scoreline from ballooning further in the first half with a string of saves, including a flying stop to deny Ruiz a fifth before the interval. It only delayed the inevitable: five minutes into the second half, Ruiz latched onto a Vitinha free-kick into the box and buried his second of the night to make it 5-0. Substitute David Boly, introduced in the 74th minute alongside the withdrawals of Doué, Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi, added the sixth late on, finishing off a Neves assist to complete the rout. PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov had little to do all night beyond one sharp stoppage-time save to deny Ayoze Pérez from 25 yards in the first half.
Ruiz's brace takes his tally to five goals in the Champions League this season, continuing a run of improved attacking output from a player signed primarily as a deep-lying passer. The Spain international, a 2022 World Cup winner, has increasingly pushed into the box under Luis Enrique this season, arriving late to finish chances created by Vitinha and Akliouche rather than simply recycling possession from midfield.
The result leaves PSG top of the 36-team Champions League table with 12 points from four matches and a goal difference of plus-15 — three points clear of a chasing pack that includes Barcelona, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Real Madrid, all tied on nine. This season's expanded league-phase format gives each of the competition's 36 teams eight games against different opponents before the top eight advance automatically to the round of 16, with teams ranked ninth through 24th entering a knockout play-off round; PSG's plus-15 goal difference after just four rounds already gives it a cushion few rivals can match heading into the back half of the schedule.
A Turnaround From a Rocky Domestic Start
The scoreline is a striking contrast with PSG's domestic form. The defending European champions took just two points from their first three Ligue 1 games this season, including a 2-1 home defeat to Monaco that raised early questions about a title hangover. Since then, PSG has won ten straight matches across all competitions under Luis Enrique — a run that suggests whatever early-season wobble affected the French champions at home has had no bearing on their European form, which also includes a 6-1 win over Slovan Bratislava and 4-2 victories against both Manchester City and Barcelona.
Villarreal's night, by contrast, was as bad as a 6-0 scoreline suggests. Pape Gueye tested Safonov from distance in the second half, but the home side managed little else against a PSG squad that rotated freely once the result was beyond doubt. It is Villarreal's third loss of the league phase, leaving manager Marcelino's side needing results elsewhere to stay in contention for the knockout rounds as the competition reaches its midpoint.
Elsewhere on a goal-heavy night across the competition, Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0, Internazionale won 3-0 away at Feyenoord, and Manchester United edged AS Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford. For PSG, the result was less about the night's wider picture and more about confirming, four games in, that last season's European champions have lost none of the attacking edge that won them the title — and are, for now, the team to catch.
