Valverde leads Real Madrid’s statistical standouts in AEK win

Real Madrid beat AEK Athens 3–2 in the Champions League in Athens on 4 November 2026, with Federico Valverde scoring in the 92nd minute after Madrid had fallen behind twice. SB Nation’s statistical breakdown of the match singled out Valverde’s impact from the bench, as well as the contributions of Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and Eduardo Camavinga.

Valverde’s late contribution in Athens

Valverde played 28 minutes, created three chances—more than any other player in the match—and made nine progressive passes, according to SB Nation. His long-range strike secured the win and preserved Madrid’s perfect start in the Champions League campaign, BBC Sport reported. The timing made the midfielder’s brief appearance decisive in a match where Madrid had twice needed to recover from a deficit.

Bellingham, Mbappé and Camavinga’s match figures

Bellingham and Bernardo Silva each made 17 progressive passes and seven progressive carries, leading the match in both categories in SB Nation’s analysis. Bernardo also recorded two key passes in 66 minutes. Bellingham’s open-play passing generated 0.33 expected threat over 85 minutes, the third-highest figure in the match; he also scored Madrid’s first goal with the backheel that levelled the game.

Mbappé led the analysis for expected threat generated through open-play passes, at 0.48. His shots had a combined non-penalty expected-goals value of 1.38, the highest in the match, and he scored the equaliser that made it 2–2. Camavinga, who played 94 minutes, recorded a match-high 18 defensive actions, along with 13 progressive passes and two key passes.

The team-level figures showed Madrid supplying nine of the top 10 players for expected threat from open-play passing. AEK had six of the top 10 for defensive actions, with Lazaros Rota registering 14. The figures frame the match’s contrasting contributions: Madrid’s players dominated the listed passing-threat rankings, while AEK defenders featured prominently in defensive actions. These rankings and metric values are from SB Nation’s analysis; its published breakdown does not explain the measures’ provider or methodology.