Paris Saint-Germain began the defence of their Champions League title on Wednesday night with a 4-0 annihilation of Atalanta at the Parc des Princes.
Shorn of star strikers Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué, PSG boss Luis Enrique said he would not use their absence as an excuse for a poor performance.
He sent out 19-year-old Senny Mayulu at the centre of the attack with Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the left and right flank respectively.
With the troika of Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz behind them, PSG exploded into action.
And within three minutes they were ahead.
As Atalanta tried to play the ball out from defence, PSG skipper Marquinhos harried Atalanta striker Daniel Maldini into losing control of the ball which rolled to Barcola who nudged it left to Ruiz.
The Spain international steered his pass across the face of the goal and Marquinhos stabbed the ball into the net past the Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
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Barely recovered from roaring at the pre-match video of their Champions League final humiliation of Inter Milan, the decibels and expectations rose.
Five minutes in and Marquinhos turned from poacher to provider. He lofted a ball over the Atalanta midfield for Nuno Mendes but his fellow defender failed to control and steer past Carnesecchi.
Barcola should have doubled the advantage after seven minutes.
Kvaratskhelia set him up with a cut back from the right but the France international botched his attempted side-footed finish.
Carnesecchi was called upon almost instantly to repel Achraf Hakimi's fizzing drive from Ruiz's slick back-heel flick.
A second goal seemed imminent but instead Atalanta settled into the game stringing passes together intelligently through through Charles De Ketelaere.
The Belgian's deftly cushioned lay-off on the edge of the PSG penalty area after 19 minutes deserved a finer flourish than Odilon Kossounou's wild lash over the crossbar.
The strike thought served as a reminder that the dominance needed to be translated into goals and with half-time approaching and PSG's delicate midfield interplay still bearing no fruit, Kvaratskhelia went old school.
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Decisive action
The Georgia international picked up the ball a few metres inside the Atalanta half, turned away from his marker Berat Djimsiti and sped towards goal.
Djimsiti, unable to keep pace, fluffed his attempt to haul Kvaratskhelia to the ground and as three Atalanta defenders closed in, Kvaratskhelia unleashed a drive from 25 metres that speared into the top right hand corner of the goal.
On the stroke of half-time, following a video assistant review, PSG were awarded a penalty for Yunus Musah's trip on Marquinhos.
Barcola could have killed the intrigue but he shot lackadaisically and Carnesecchi collected easily down to his right.
"You will have to ask him about that strike," Enrique joked during an interview with French broadcaster Canal+ after the game.
"it was a very good match and we are happy," he added. "We created lots of chances and we deserved the win. I think the supporters will be happy."
Mendes ended the contest seven minutes after the break with PSG's third goal.
The Portugal international surged down the left and after his drag back left Raoul Bellanova sliding on the deck, he rammed the ball past an equally befuddled Carnesecchi at his near post.
The rest was silky midfield patterns of possession around an Atalanta side in transition under new boss Ivan Juric.
"We had a couple of chances to level," said the 50-year-old Croatian who took over from Gian Piero Gaspirini in the summer.
"We didn't and we conceded the second goal far too easily. I wasn't at all happy about the way that happened and once we were 2-0 down, it was always going to be difficult."
Substitute Gonçalo Ramos added the gloss for 4-0 in stoppage-time.
"We played a good match from the beginning to the end," said Mendes. "I think we're on the right path. We tried to control the game from the beginning and I think we did it really well."
In other games on Wednesday night, Bayern Munich beat Chelsea 3-1 and France international Marcus Thuram bagged a brace as Inter Milan won 2-0 at Ajax.
Liverpool needed a stoppage-time goal from skipper Virgil van Dijk to see off Atletico Madrid 3-2 at Anfield.
