AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid: Valverde rescues! Late strike seals 4 straight UCL wins for RM

Game is over and the final score is AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid. It’s Valverde again! His 92nd-minute thunderbolt from outside the box turns the tide, keeping Real Madrid unbeaten in this season’s Champions League.

Match Report:

Federico Valverde scored a 92nd-minute winner as Real Madrid defeated AEK Athens 3-2 to maintain their winning record in the Champions League this season.

AEK twice took the lead as Aboubakary Koita and Stavros Pilios put the home side ahead twice, but Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe dragged Madrid level before Valverde's fierce strike at ALLWYN Arena.

Thibaut Courtois was forced into an early save by Mijat Gacinovic, but the Madrid goalkeeper could do nothing in the 12th minute when Koita quickly shifted onto his left foot to get past Marc Cucurella and lashed in at the near post.

Courtois was called upon again, keeping out former Los Blancos forward Luka Jovic, before Mbappe fired over the bar from Yan Diomande's cutback in what was Madrid's first clear-cut chance.

Bellingham saw a goal disallowed just before the half-hour mark, but equalised in stunning fashion in the 32nd minute as he sent Cucurella's low cross into the bottom-right corner with a brilliant flick.

Madrid were on top in the early stages of the second half, but Cucurella was denied by a last-ditch block from Lazaros Rota, while Mbappe's low drive was turned away by a sliding Pilios.

Pilios then stunned the visitors in the 75th minute, finishing through the leg of Courtois following an under-lapping run into the box, but AEK's lead only lasted three minutes as Mbappe was on hand to tap in from Denzel Dumfries' centre.

Madrid's hopes of a win seemed to be over when Mbappe struck the crossbar following a trivela pass from Endrick, but substitute Valverde was afforded too much space and sent a rocket into the top-right corner from distance to cap another comeback victory for Jose Mourinho's side.

Mourinho's men defy the odds again

Madrid were 3-1 down against Roma in the 82nd minute before going on to win 4-3 on MD2, and the record winners of the Champions League produced more late heroics to take all three points in Greece.

They became just the second team to score a 90th-minute winner in multiple away games in a Champions League campaign, along with Atletico Madrid in 2021-22 (2).

Mourinho will certainly argue his side deserved all three points, winning the expected goals (xG) battle 3.35 to 0.87, but it was AEK who created more Opta-defined big chances (three to two).

Los Blancos relied on moments of quality from both Bellingham and Valverde. The England international scored his 10th goal in the competition, becoming the second midfielder to do so for the club after Guti (16), while Bellingham is also the youngest to score in seven consecutive seasons of the Champions League (23 years and 128 days).

Mbappe, meanwhile. became just the fifth player to reach 100 goal involvements in the Champions League (74 goals, 26 assists). Only Lionel Messi (101) has reached the milestone in fewer appearances than the Frenchman, with this being his 102nd game in the competition (also 102 for Robert Lewandowski).

Valverde, who was introduced in the 67th minute, scored with his only shot, but also created a team-high three chances as they somewhat struggled in Arda Guler's absence, with the latter rested by Mourinho.

Vinicius Junior failed to make his mark again, failing to hit the target with any of his three shots and not completing a single dribble (0/1), while Diomande led the way in successful dribbles on the right flank (4/7).

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

0' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

5' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

12' GOAL! AEK Athens 1-0 Real Madrid (Aboubakary Koita)

17' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

25' Highlight from AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

28' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

33' GOAL! AEK Athens 1-1 Real Madrid

34' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

37' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

39' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

42' Highlight from AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

45' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

51' Highlight from AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

55' Highlight from AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

66' Highlight from AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

67' Highlight from AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

71' Match Event for AEK Athens vs Real Madrid

75' GOAL! AEK Athens 2-1 Real Madrid (Stavro Pilo)

78' GOAL! AEK Athens 2-2 Real Madrid (Kylian Mbappé)

92' GOAL! AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid (Federico Valverde)

Line-ups

AEK Athens XI: Alberto Brignoli, Gacinovic, Jovic, Harold Moukoudi, Kaan Kairinen, Aboubakary Koita, Lovro Majer, Lazaros Rota, Filipe Relvas, Stavro Pilo, Kervin Arriaga

Subs: D. Vida, Petros Mantalos, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Strakosha, Marin, Oleksandr Zubkov, Barnabás Varga, Milán Vitális, Zini, Marios Balamotis

Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Rudiger, Bernardo Silva, Dumfries, Cucurella, Mbappe, Militao, Vinicius, Camavinga, Bellingham, Yan Diomande

Subs: Alexander-Arnold, Valverde, Konate, Brahim, Lunin, Álvaro Carreras, Endrick, Dean Huijsen, Sergio Mestre, Carlos Espí, Thiago Pitarch, Sergio Martínez