Barcelona vs Viktoriya Plzen

 Robert Lewandowski scored a superb hat trick in the first champions League outing for Barcelona as his new team began their European campaign with a 5-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen at camp Nou on wednesday . 

After Franck kessie put Barcelona  in front in the 13th minute , Lewandowski took over. He scored twice before half time , either side of a Jan Sykora goal that temporarily restored plzen's hopes of getting something from the game. 

Lewandowski completed his sixth champions League hat trick midway through the second half before Ferran Torres  put the final polish on the scoreline with an emphatic volley. 

Lewandowski's treble saw him break a tie with Karim Benzema to stand alone as the third highest scorer in Champions League histori, with 89 goals . He also became the first player in the competition's history to core hat trick for three different clubs . The Poland striker now has eight goals in five games for Barcelona since arriving from Bayern Munich in the summer. 

" That's how Robert is, Insatiable," said coach Xavi Hermandez. The way he trains , the way he helps the team , his humility , his work rate ...| 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 . 

Several of Barcelona summer signings came to the fore in an eventful first half . Kessie got his first Champions League goal to bigin the scoring with a close- range header after another new arrival Jules Kounde headed a corner into his path. 

Lewandowski's first goal, in the 34th minute, was the pick of the bunch . After a run trough the middle from Sergi Roberto, Lewandowski steadied himself on the edge of the box and side - footed into the corner of the net with trademark pinpoint accuracr. 

He had a easier task in the third minute of first half stopage time Ousume Dembele did the bulk of the work, winning the ball back on the right wing before supplying a sumptuous cross that left Plzen's goalkeeper stranded and with Lewandowski the chance for a simple stooped header at the back post.

Before the scoreline got a way from them , Plzen gave the hosts a couple of scares in the opening period . The Czech champions were awarded a penalty in the 24th minute only to have it overtuned after VAR flagged that Jhon Mosquera's elbow had struck Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen in the face before the Plzen forward was brought down in front of goal. 

Plzen achieved their goal in the 44th minute.