Jude Bellingham can set a new Champions League record on Wednesday when Real Madrid play AEK Athens in Greece. One more appearance would take him to 60 games in the competition. At 23 years and 128 days old, he would be the youngest player ever to get there.
The record belongs to Iker Casillas, who reached 60 games at 23 years and 167 days. The match kicks off at 18:45 CET in Athens.
Perfect so far
José Mourinho’s Real Madrid have won all three of their Champions League games this season. They beat Inter 2-1 at home and won 4-3 away to Roma. Then came a 4-1 win over Leipzig.
They arrive in good form. Madrid have won six games in a row in all competitions, including a 2-1 win in the Clásico against Barcelona. On Saturday they won 3-0 at Racing Santander, and Bellingham scored one of the goals.
Mourinho still has some players missing. Rodrygo and Raúl Asencio are both out injured. Federico Valverde has had a hamstring problem and may not be ready. Vinícius Júnior is serving a ban in La Liga, but he is expected to be available in Europe.
A hard start for AEK
AEK won their first league phase game 1-0 against LASK. Since then they have lost 3-1 to Shakhtar Donetsk and 5-1 to Manchester City, so they have three points from three games.
Their form in the Greek league has been poor too. AEK lost 3-1 to PAOK and then 2-0 to Panathinaikos at the weekend. Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha is out with a wrist injury.
There is one familiar face in the AEK attack. Luka Jović played 51 games for Real Madrid, nine of them in the Champions League, and he could start against his old club.
Madrid’s Greek problem
Madrid have a poor record on Greek trips. They have won only one of their eight UEFA away games against Greek clubs, with five draws. Against AEK they have won once and lost once in four meetings. The other two games were draws.
Our take
Real Madrid should win this. They score a lot of goals, and AEK have let in eight in their last two European games. Mourinho may still rest a few players with the La Liga season so busy.
Bellingham is very likely to play, and the record would make it a good night for him. He is still only 23, and he could add a lot more games to that number in the next few years.
Will Real Madrid make it four wins from four, or can AEK give them a scare? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Jude Bellingham by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Barcex (CC BY-SA 4.0), Luka Jović by Werner100359 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
