Federico Valverde netted a stoppage-time winner as Real Madrid beat AEK Athens 3-2 in Greece on Wednesday with another dramatic Champions League comeback.
Aboubakary Koita opened the scoring for the hosts in the 12th minute before Jude Bellingham scored a stylish equaliser 20 minutes later, and Stavros Pilios fired the hosts back in front with 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
Kylian Mbappé drew the sides level less than three minutes later, and it was heartbreak for Athens after Real Madrid captain Valverde completed the turnaround in the second minute of added time.
Madrid’s comeback ensured a second successive dramatic away day for Jose Mourinho’s side in Europe following their 4-3 success at Roma having trailed 3-1 with seven minutes left.
It was a record-breaking night for Bellingham, who became the youngest player — at 23 years and 128 days old — to make 60 appearances in the competition’s history, overtaking former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who was 23 years and 167 days old in 2004.
Bellingham also became the youngest player to score in seven successive Champions League seasons, surpassing Mbappé, who was 23 years and 260 days old when he set the previous record in the 2022-23 season.
The hosts got out to an encouraging start, with several shots on target, before Koita fired them in front.
He was teed up by former Real Madrid forward Luka Jovic and dragged the low pass on to his left foot before powering the ball in between Antonio Rüdiger and Marc Cucurella, and beyond Thibaut Courtois.
Bellingham initially thought he had equalised in the 28th minute from a corner, but the offside flag was raised and the call upheld following a VAR check.
He got his goal four minutes later, and it was a stylish one, a brilliant backheel flick from 12 yards out, teed up perfectly by Cucurella, to draw the sides level.
The unmarked Cucurella could have made it three 10 minutes after the restart, teed up perfectly by Mbappé, but he was unable to lift the ball, allowing Lazaros Rota to slide in for a critical tackle.
Mbappé came close, curling marginally wide just after the hour, then had another effort saved, and was denied a shot with just over 20 minutes remaining by an excellent Pilios tackle.
Pilios sent the stands into raptures with 15 minutes to go in normal time, latching on to Koita’s weighted pass and firing home through the legs of Courtois.
But soon after Mbappé burst in and met Denzel Dumfries’ ball across goal to equalise, then drew an excellent Alberto Brignoli save with less than five minutes remaining in normal time.
Valverde then ensured the visitors maintained their flawless record in the competition with a slick finish from the edge of the box into the top corner.
Koita, who was seen protesting after the final whistle, was shown a red card by the officials.
Information from PA was used in this recap.
