{"id":9339,"date":"2026-11-04T21:15:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/valverde-strike-snatches-real-madrid-late-win-at-aek-athens\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T21:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:15:47","slug":"valverde-strike-snatches-real-madrid-late-win-at-aek-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/04\/valverde-strike-snatches-real-madrid-late-win-at-aek-athens\/","title":{"rendered":"Valverde strike snatches Real Madrid late win at AEK Athens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Valverde<\/p>\n

Federico Valverde lashed home a stunning effort from distance to snatch Real Madrid a late 3-2 victory at AEK Athens on Wednesday in the Champions League and preserve their 100 percent start.<\/p>\n

Jose Mourinho\u2019s side twice came from behind against the Greek champions before Valverde claimed all three points for his side, level with holders Paris Saint-Germain on four wins from four league phase games.<\/p>\n

Aboubakary Koita sent AEK ahead after 12 minutes and Jude Bellingham equalised with a sublime flick for the record 15-time winners.<\/p>\n

Stavros Pilios sent the Greek champions ahead with 15 minutes to go but Kylian Mbappe swiftly pulled Madrid level once again, setting the stage for Valverde\u2019s late winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cFede has that capability\u2026 (but) I didn\u2019t ask him to shoot,\u201d Mourinho told Movistar about his match-winner, who came on in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him was that the game was wide open, it was being played at great speed\u2026 a fresh player like Fede, with his ability to cover a lot of ground, I told him to attack the space and arrive in the dangerous areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madrid have now won seven straight games across all competitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fought for (the victory), and with the score at 2\u20132 we didn\u2019t settle,\u201d added Mourinho.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would always be an acceptable result, we\u2019d be on 10 points, but we wanted more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mourinho started with Vinicius Junior on the left flank, after he missed the team\u2019s previous two matches through suspension, in La Liga.<\/p>\n

The hosts started with huge energy at the Agia Sophia stadium and it was not overly surprising when they took an early lead.<\/p>\n

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved well from former Los Blancos striker Luka Jovic before Koita sent AEK ahead.<\/p>\n

The Mauritanian winger shifted cleverly inside Marc Cucurella and thumped home at the near post, catching out Courtois.<\/p>\n

The Belgian goalkeeper saved again from Jovic as AEK tried to make their strong start count.<\/p>\n

However they inevitably began to tire and Madrid began to take the reins in the Greek capital.<\/p>\n

Kylian Mbappe fired over and Bellingham netted from close range but was shown to be offside. Moments later the England international scored again and nobody could deny him this one.<\/p>\n

Cucurella fired in a low cross and Bellingham produced a brilliant flicked finish to beat goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli.<\/p>\n

Former Chelsea defender Cucurella tested Brignoli and Bernardo Silva nodded off-target before the interval as Mourinho\u2019s team controlled the game.<\/p>\n

Brignoli pushed away Eder Militao\u2019s long-range effort early in the second half and Lazaros Rota blocked superbly to deny the heavily-involved Cucurella.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Another fightback \u2013<\/h2>\n

Mbappe bent a shot narrowly wide of the top corner with Italian stopper Brignoli at full stretch.<\/p>\n

The France forward was frustrated by the AEK defence when Vinicius turned sharply and found him with a high pass, but the striker\u2019s shot was blocked.<\/p>\n

AEK reclaimed the lead in the 75th minute when the impressive Koita gently nudged the ball into Pilios\u2019s path and the Albania international finished through Courtois\u2019s legs from close range.<\/p>\n

Madrid immediately responded with Bellingham playing Denzel Dumfries in down the right. The Netherlands defender rolled a low ball across the six-yard box and this time Mbappe was able to finish.<\/p>\n

It was Mbappe\u2019s fourth goal in four Champions League games this season, netting once in each, and his 16th across all competitions.<\/p>\n

Madrid substitute Endrick sent Mbappe through on goal with five minutes remaining but Brignoli produced a sensational save to tip his strike against the crossbar.<\/p>\n

Valverde refused to give up on the three points and in the 92nd minute he lashed home across Brignoli to keep Madrid perfect.<\/p>\n

Koita, who had been substituted, was sent off after the game for apparent dissent.<\/p>\n

Valverde thanked his team-mates for backing him when he gets the chance to shoot.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I overthink it, and well, as I always say, I\u2019m grateful to the players, to my teammates, because they\u2019re the ones who give me the confidence so that, in those moments, I can make that decision and have the courage to hit it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

Vanguard News<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The post Valverde strike snatches Real Madrid late win at AEK Athens<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federico Valverde lashed home a stunning effort from distance to snatch Real Madrid a late 3-2 victory at AEK Athens on Wednesday in the Champions League and preserve their 100… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}