In a match that seemed complicated from the first minute for Real Madrid, not only because of the rival's pressure but also because of the hostility felt from the fanbase, the difficulty rose even higher when, in the 12th minute, Aboubakary Koita received the ball after an attacking run and beat Marc Cucurella in a one-on-one, and was able to shoot on goal with great power, close to the left post, making it impossible for Thibaut Courtois to reach the ball. With this, AEK went up 1-0, and Madrid had to start the comeback.

In a match that was beginning to get complicated for Madrid, since the Greek team was containing the merengue offense greatly, the quality of Jude Bellingham had to arrive to level the scoreboard. After an advance down the left flank by Cucurella, he sent a powerful cross into the penalty spot area where the Englishman was, who, seeing the ball slightly behind him, opted to shoot with a backheel and did so with great precision, close to the post, so the goalkeeper could not save it. This made it 1-1.

From the goal, Madrid began to look far superior to AEK on the field. They began to harass the Greeks down the flanks with constant arrivals from Vinicius-Cucurella on the left side or Dumfries-Diomande on the right side. Unfortunately, they could not score the go-ahead goal before halftime, but everything points to the second half maintaining this rhythm with broad white dominance.

The minutes passed; the 65th minute arrived, but there was still no great clarity to be able to score the go-ahead goal. There were many Madrid arrivals and constant dominance, but without great clarity when it came to shooting on goal. Mourinho decided to opt for taking Bernardo Silva and Diomande off the field for the entry of Federico Valverde and Endrick in the search to go ahead on the scoreboard.

Everything got complicated again in the 75th minute. After constant siege by Madrid, the Greek team managed, on an attacking run, to once again face Courtois' goal and beat him with a shot from Stavros Pilo that went between the Belgian's legs. However, in a practically instantaneous response from Mourinho's team, Dumfries reached the last sector of the area with the ball under control and sent in a low and powerful cross, which was simply pushed in by Mbappe. In a span of three minutes, the match went from 1-1 to 2-2.

Right in stoppage time, in the 90+2nd minute, captain Valverde, who had just come on in the second half, unleashed a rocket from outside the area that went straight into the corner; the AEK goalkeeper, no matter how much he stretched, could not reach the ball. Madrid once again completed a new comeback and took the 2-3 victory in Athens.

T. Courtois: 6.0
M. Cucurella: 6.9
A. Rudiger: 6.9
E. Militao: 7.4
D. Dumfries: 6.8
E. Camavinga: 7.5
B. Silva: 6.8
Vinicius Jr: 6.2
J. Bellingham: 8.6
Y. Diomande: 7.0
K. Mbappe: 8.1

A. Brignoli: 8.0
L. Rota: 6.6
H. Moukoudi: 6.6
F. Relvas: 6.9
S. Pilo: 7.6
A. Koita: 8.3
K. Arriaga: 6.9
K. Kairinen: 6.3
L. Majer: 7.2
L. Jovic: 6.9
M. Gacinovic: 7.3