AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid (Bellingham, Mbappé & Valverde). An entertaining European win… Here is my immediate reaction. More to come: Player ratings, interviews and a post game podcast.
Fixtures are arriving in relentless fashion at this point of the season, and a champions league trip to Greece to face AEK Athens was up next for Real Madrid. Vinícius Júnior was back in the line-up after missing out recently due to his domestic ban. Denzel Dumfries also returned on the right-hand side. Yan Diomande
maintained his place, but Fede Valverde took a seat on the bench. Thibaut Courtois captained Real Madrid.
AEK Athens intended to showcase their technical ability early on, opening Real Madrid up and forcing Thibaut Courtois into an early save, before taking the lead through an excellent cut-in and strike by Aboubakary Koïta. Former Madrid man Luka Jović was looking on top form, as the home side continued to impress after the goal. Los Blancos did wake up eventually, though – and found the net after some quick reactions from Jude Bellingham were cancelled out for offside. Jude would go one better moments later, however. The Englishman would meet a powerful low Marc Cucurella cross in a way that few others would even attempt to, delicately flicking the ball past the stunned keeper. Jude starred as Madrid ended the half on top. 1-1 at the interval.
A fairly even second-half lacked chances in the early stages, before AEK Athens took the lead once more after a well-worked move. That lead lasted three minutes as Jude Bellingham played Denzel Dumfries through – and the full-back played a perfect ball for Kylian Mbappé to poke home. Mbappé then hit the bar with minutes to go, after some good work by Endrick. Fede Valverde would grab the winner in added time, scoring a thunderbolt to steal a result away from Athens. Full-time, 3-2 to Real Madrid – what a game, and another clutch win! What were your main takeaways? The
