Real Madrid left it late again. Federico Valverde came off the bench and hit a long-range shot into the top corner in stoppage time, and Jose Mourinho’s side won 3-2 at AEK Athens in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Madrid were behind twice in Athens. Both times they found an answer, and the last one came with almost no time left on the clock.
How the game went
AEK went ahead after 12 minutes. Aboubakary Koita ran onto a low pass from Luka Jovic, the former Real Madrid striker, and beat Thibaut Courtois at his near post.
Jude Bellingham thought he had equalised just before the half-hour, but his goal was ruled out for offside. A few minutes later he did score, flicking Marc Cucurella’s low cross into the net.
The home side went in front again with a quarter of an hour to go. Stavros Pilios got on the end of a pass from Koita and put the ball through Courtois’ legs. This time Madrid needed only three minutes. Denzel Dumfries crossed and Kylian Mbappé tapped in to make it 2-2.
Then, deep in stoppage time, Valverde took aim from the edge of the box and found the top corner. After the final whistle Koita was shown a red card for his protests to the referee.
Four wins from four
The result keeps Madrid perfect in the league phase. They have 12 points from four games, after wins over Inter, Roma and RB Leipzig. AEK stay on three points.
It was also the second time this season that Mourinho’s team have won away from home with a late fightback. At Roma in October they were 3-1 down with seven minutes to play and still won 4-3.
A record night for Bellingham
Bellingham made his 60th Champions League appearance in Athens. At 23 years and 128 days he is the youngest player to reach that number, ahead of Iker Casillas. His goal also made him the youngest player to score in seven Champions League seasons in a row.
Our take
This was far from Madrid’s best performance. AEK caused problems all night and could easily have held on for a draw. But this team keeps finding a way, and that habit wins a lot of points over a season.
Valverde had been out with a hamstring problem before this game. To come on and win it with one strike says plenty about him.
Is this Real Madrid team good enough to win the Champions League, or are they riding their luck? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Federico Valverde by jikatu (CC BY-SA 2.0); Jude Bellingham by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0); Kylian Mbappé by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0); Federico Valverde by Real Madrid (CC BY 3.0).
