Real Madrid strike late to beat AEK Athens 3-2

Full-time: AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid

Real Madrid left OPAP Arena with a 3-2 victory over AEK Athens in Matchday 4 of the Champions League league stage, settled by Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time strike.

The visitors had the larger share of the ball and attacking volume, but AEK made the contest intensely competitive, opening the scoring early and then restoring their advantage late in the second half. Madrid responded on each occasion, with Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and substitute Valverde supplying the goals.

AEK make the early statement

AEK began with purpose and took the lead in the 12th minute. Aboubakary Koita finished with his left foot, with Luka Jović listed as the related player, to put the home side 1-0 up.

Madrid thought they had an equaliser through Bellingham in the 28th minute, but VAR ruled the goal out for offside. The response did arrive four minutes later. Bellingham struck with his left foot in the 32nd minute to level the score at 1-1, with Marc Cucurella the related player.

That left the match level at the interval, but the first half had already set the tone for a contest in which AEK were able to convert a limited share of possession into a real threat.

Late swings in a five-goal finish

The decisive action came late. AEK made three substitutions between the 53rd and 60th minutes, while Madrid introduced Endrick and Valverde in the 67th minute.

In the 75th minute, Stavros Pilios put AEK ahead again, finishing with his left foot after Koita’s involvement. The hosts had a 2-1 lead, but it lasted only three minutes. Mbappé replied in the 78th minute with a right-foot finish, with Denzel Dumfries the related player.

Madrid then made further changes, introducing Álvaro Carreras and Brahim Díaz in the 81st minute and Carlos Espí in the 86th. The match remained level until the second minute of added time, when Valverde scored with his right foot. Brahim Díaz was the related player for the decisive goal.

The final event came in the 90+5th minute, when AEK’s Koita received a red card for an argument.

The numbers behind Madrid’s pressure

Madrid controlled 70% possession and completed 580 of 629 passes at 92%, compared with AEK’s 233 successful passes from 274 attempts at 85%.

Their attacking totals were also higher: 24 shots to AEK’s nine, eight efforts on target to five, and 17 shots from inside the box to six. Madrid recorded 135 attacks and 75 dangerous attacks, against 64 and 35 respectively for AEK. They also won seven corners, while AEK had none.

Yet AEK created three big chances, one more than Madrid’s two. The home side missed two of those opportunities, while Madrid missed one. AEK also won more duels, 56 to 51, and made 12 interceptions to Madrid’s three. Those figures underline how closely AEK stayed in the game despite Madrid’s territorial edge.

Key performers

Bellingham was named Player of the Match with a rating of 8.19 after scoring Madrid’s first equaliser. Mbappé followed closely on 8.18 following his 78th-minute leveller.

For AEK, Koita was central to the home side’s attacking output: he scored the opener and was the related player for Pilios’ goal, earning a 7.57 rating despite his late red card. Pilios, scorer of AEK’s second, received 7.27.

Madrid’s victory was ultimately built on persistence. They had to answer two AEK leads, and Valverde’s 90+2nd-minute intervention turned a tense draw into three points.