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| Salzburg's Hwang Hee-chan in action with KRC Genk's Sebastien Dewaest during the Champions League match on Tuesday in Salzburg, Austria/ AP-Yonhap |
South Korean international Hwang Hee-chan wasted no time making his mark in the top European club football competition.
In his UEFA Champions League debut, Hwang scored one goal and set up two more for FC Salzburg, as they thrashed the Belgian side Genk 6-2 in Group E action at Stadion Salzburg in Salzburg on Tuesday (local time).
Hwang is just the third South Korean to score in the Champions League, after Park Ji-sung and Son Heung-min.
Salzburg, the Austrian champions, are playing in their first Champions League since 1994. They had fallen in the qualifying rounds in each of the last seven seasons.
With a 19-year-old striker Erling Braut Haaland scoring a hat trick, Salzburg were on the winning end of the highest-scoring Champions League match since Paris Saint-Germain beat Celtic 7-1 in 2017.
Salzburg are undefeated in their 19 home matches in all competitions.
Hwang assisted on Haaland's second goal of the match in the 34th minute for a 2-0 lead, and two minutes later, Hwang got his first Champions League goal for a 3-0 advantage for his side.
Hwang helped Haaland complete the hat trick with a setup in the 45th and continued to wreak havoc on the Genk defense in the second half of the rout.
Salzburg will take on the defending champions Liverpool at Anfield on Oct. 2. Liverpool suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Napoli to open their title defense Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in made his Champions League debut for Valencia CF. At 18 years and seven months old, Lee became the youngest South Korean to appear in a Champions League match, when he replaced Rodrigo in the 90th minute against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Rodrigo scored the lone goal of the match as Valencia prevailed 1-0 in Group H.
Lee had tried to leave Valencia for another club over the summer in search of more playing time, before staying put with the Spanish side. Valencia sacked head coach Marcelino Toral last week and replaced him with Albert Celades, who has played Lee in each of his first two matches so far. (Yonhap)
