Three Takeaways From Real Madrid's Important Win at AEK Athens

On Wednesday evening, Real Madrid made it four wins from four in the UEFA Champions League as they came from behind not once but twice to beat AEK Athens, the hosts first defeat at home in over a year.

Since Jose Mourinho was reappointed in the summer, the team have made a habit of these late goals— Espanyol in his first game, Elche, most notably AS Roma, El Clasico and then in this game. To think that AEK took the lead after 75 minutes, and yet Los Blancos were still able to win the game.

Anyway, without further ado, what are the main takeaways from this important victory?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to ignore the elephant in the room. Real Madrid again looked worse with Vinicius in the team. It should be said that he did create a good chance for Bernardo Silva at the end of the first half, but aside from that it was yet another disappointing performance.

During his 81 minutes on the pitch, he only attempted one dribble, and it was unsuccessful. Meanwhile he himself was dribbled past 2 times, and only won 2/7 ground duels. With and without the ball, just nowhere near the required level and standard.

The Brazilian winger will serve the last of his four game suspension against Valencia this weekend, before the international break— so his next game will be on the 21st against Celta Vigo. And truth be told, he would be counting himself extremely fortunate if he is named in the starting XI in that one. It is clear that Arda Guler and Yan Diomande are the best wing pairing at the moment.

Jude Bellingham could produce his best return since his debut season. It is clear that Mourinho has put lots of focus into getting the best of his number ten. Lots of media talk in pre-season suggested that the boss wanted to make sure the 23-year old got back to his best, and wants him higher up the pitch to do so.

His goal last night was an absolutely sublime finish, and came from yet another clever run into the box. It was his second effort of the evening, and he had one more in the second half. That’s the floor you want for Bellingham chances wise— at least three shots every game. If that happens, the goal return will increase.

Last season, Bellingham scored eight goals all campaign, he already has five this time round. Now he did miss a number of games through injury, but he is still scoring every 244 minutes this year, as opposed to every 317 last. Hopefully that can continue to improve over the coming months.

Finally, as we already knew, the situation for Trent Alexander-Arnold is beyond repair. Earlier this week, Mourinho said Valverde is the first choice right-back. Well, he was rested from the start for this one, and yet the former Liverpool man remained an unused sub, with Denzel Dumfries playing the full 90. 

The Dutchman has now played 259 minutes more than his counterpart this season, nearly three whole games worth of minutes in difference. It will be interesting to see if he is called up to the England squad tomorrow.