Federico Valverde netted a 92nd-minute winner as Real Madrid labored to a 3-2 win over AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
The 15-time UCL winners were lethargic for most of the night and dug deep to equalize twice before their captain scored an ominous winner.
AEK Athens scored the opener on 12 minutes through Aboubakary Koita but Kylian Mbappe leveled 20 minutes later through Jude Bellingham.
Stavros Pilios handed the Greek champions another lead squeezing a low shot in at the far post on 75 minutes, but Kylian Mbappe netted a fourth goal in four UCL matches to restore parity at 2-2.
The game looked destined for a draw but the Greek gods were against Athens who succumbed to Valverde’s bullet from 25 yards.
Real Madrid have won all four of their UCL matches this season, while AEK’s 18-match unbeaten home record ended.
In Turkey, Fenerbahce came from a goal down twice to defeat Liverpool 3-2. The Reds went ahead twice through Trey Nyoni and Alexander Isak, but Fenerbahce responded through Mason Greenwood and Archie Brown before Vedat Muriqi’s header sealed the unlikely comeback win
