Robert Lewandowski scores historic hat-trick as Barça puts five past Viktoria Plzen while 101st minute goal gives win to Atlético

By Ben Morse, CNN

Updated 1008 GMT (1808 HKT) September 8, 2022

Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring Barcelona's fourth goal to complete his hat-trick.

(CNN)Barcelona began its 2022/23 Champions League campaign in perfect fashion on Wednesday night with Robert Lewandowski scoring an historic hat-trick on the way to a 5-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen.

New summer signing Franck Kessié headed home to open the scoring, before Lewandowski — who joined the Spanish giants from Bayern Munich during the transfer window — found his scoring touch. The 34-year-old bent home a delightful first goal from the edge of the box before Jan Sykora headed past Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the stroke of halftime to give the Czech champions a glimmer of hope. However, Lewandowski shut that door just minutes later, his diving header at the back post reinstating Barça's two-goal lead as the first half ticked away. Midway through the second half, the Polish striker had his first hat-trick for his new club when — in a mirror image of his first goal — he curled past the despairing Jindřich Staněk in the Plzen goal. Read MoreFerrán Torres wrapped up a successful afternoon for Barça manager Xavi as he blasted home from Ousmane Dembélé's delightful chip. Lewandowski's hat-trick makes him the first ever player to score a Champions League hat-trick with three different clubs — Borussia Dortmund, Bayern and now Barça. He is also just the ninth player to score a hat-trick on their Champions League debut with a club. Lewandowski shoots against Plzen.Afterwards, Xavi called Lewandowski «insatiable» for goals. «The way he trains, the way he helps the team, his humility, his work-rate… I can't praise him enough because it's not just about his hat-trick, it's the