AEK Athens 2–3 Real Madrid: Valverde Scores 90+2 Winner After Two Comebacks

Koita puts AEK ahead before Bellingham equalises

AEK Athens opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Aboubakary Koita finished a move assisted by Luka Jović. The hosts' early goal put Real Madrid behind, but Jude Bellingham equalised in the 32nd minute from a Marc Cucurella assist. Kervin Arriaga received a yellow card for dissent two minutes later. The teams reached half-time at 1–1, with AEK having converted their early opportunity and Madrid having found a response through Bellingham. His starting place and goal are confirmed by the BetLogic Lineups and Events records; the match data alone does not verify a historical Champions League appearance record.

Pilios restores AEK's lead, but Mbappé replies within three minutes

AEK made changes after the interval: Zini replaced Lovro Majer in the 53rd minute, while Răzvan Marin and Barnabás Varga arrived in the 60th. Madrid introduced Federico Valverde and Endrick in the 67th minute. In the 75th, Stavros Pilios put AEK 2–1 ahead with Koita providing the assist. The winger had now contributed directly to both of the home side's goals. Real Madrid answered in the 78th minute, when Kylian Mbappé scored from a Denzel Dumfries assist to make it 2–2. AEK had led twice, yet the visitors had recovered on both occasions.

Valverde and Brahim Díaz combine for the stoppage-time winner

José Mourinho made further changes in the 81st minute, bringing on Brahim Díaz for Cucurella and Álvaro Fernández for Vinícius Júnior. Bellingham was replaced by Carlos Espí in the 86th. The decisive moment came at 90+2: substitute Valverde scored Madrid's third goal, assisted by substitute Díaz. Their late combination turned a 2–2 draw into a 3–2 away victory. The match concluded with another disciplinary incident as Koita received a straight red card at 90+5; the BetLogic Events feed records abusive language as the reason. Madrid secured the win after overturning AEK's lead twice.

Real Madrid record 24 shots, 70% possession and 3.40 xG

The match statistics show a clear difference in attacking volume. Madrid recorded 24 shots to AEK's nine, with eight efforts on target against five. Their expected-goals figure was 3.40 compared with 0.95 for the hosts. Madrid also dominated possession, 70% to 30%, and attempted 629 passes against 274. The visitors completed 580 accurate passes, while AEK completed 233. Real won seven corners to AEK's none. Those figures show why Madrid generated more opportunities, even though AEK were efficient enough to take two separate leads. The narrow final score was settled by Valverde's stoppage-time finish.

Starting line-ups and substitutions shape the result

AEK lined up in a 4-4-2 under M. Nikolić, with Luka Jović and Mijat Gaćinović up front. Real Madrid used a 4-2-3-1 under José Mourinho, with Jude Bellingham operating behind Kylian Mbappé. Real's starting line-up also included Vinícius Júnior, Bernardo Silva, Eduardo Camavinga and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The visitors' substitutions proved decisive: Valverde came on at 67' and scored the winner, while Díaz entered at 81' and supplied the assist. For AEK, Koita scored the opener and set up Pilios before being sent off in added time. This post-match account uses the completed BetLogic Events, Stats and Lineups records rather than the pre-match predicted line-ups.