Champions League Wednesday: Real Win, Liverpool Lose
Champions League Wednesday brought late drama at both ends of the table, as Real Madrid stayed perfect with a stoppage-time winner at AEK Athens and Liverpool lost their perfect record at Fenerbahce. Manchester City and Arsenal also won on the road, while Como produced the night’s biggest shock with a nine-goal rout of Lens.
Real twice came from behind in Athens before Federico Valverde settled the game in added time, while Liverpool twice led in Istanbul and still lost.
Real Madrid leave it late in Athens
AEK took the lead in the 12th minute, when Aboubakary Koita cut inside and fired into the top corner from just inside the box. Jude Bellingham had an effort ruled out for offside in the 27th minute before he equalised five minutes later with a deft backheel from Marc Cucurella’s low cross.
Koita then set up Stavros Pilios to restore AEK’s lead in the 75th minute with a low shot through Courtois’ legs. Kylian Mbappe tapped in Denzel Dumfries’ cross three minutes later, and Valverde delivered the winner in stoppage time.
The win kept Real second on 12 points from four matches, behind holders Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference. AEK stayed 29th on three points.
Liverpool’s perfect start ends in Istanbul
Liverpool arrived in Istanbul with three wins from three, but Vedat Muriqi’s 79th-minute winner ended that run and earned Fenerbahce their first victory of the campaign. Trey Nyoni opened the scoring in the 25th minute, meeting a defensive header with a low volley that deflected past Ederson.
Mason Greenwood levelled four minutes later with a free kick that struck Jeremy Jacquet in the defensive wall and skidded past Alisson. Substitutes Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak combined to restore the lead in the 69th minute, Isak heading in Gakpo’s cross.
The advantage lasted four minutes. After a short corner, N’Golo Kante crossed, Gakpo’s glancing header diverted the ball away from Alisson, and Archie Brown tapped into an unguarded net. Brown then supplied the winner from a long throw, and Muriqi headed past Alisson.
The defeat dropped Liverpool to eighth on nine points, while Fenerbahce climbed to 19th on five. Nyoni’s opener also made him, according to Opta figures quoted in match coverage, the youngest player in Liverpool’s history to score his first goal for the club in a European Cup match, at 19 years and 127 days.
Haaland settles Leipzig test as Arsenal hold on
Castello Lukeba’s 37th-minute own goal put City ahead, but Ridle Baku equalised four minutes after half-time. Enzo Fernandez restored City’s advantage in the 58th minute before Antonio Nusa levelled three minutes later. Elliot Anderson’s low cross then found Erling Haaland for a 78th-minute winner.
City moved seventh on nine points, six points clear of Leipzig, who sit in the elimination places. In Prague, first-half goals from Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres put Arsenal in control, and Wiktor Nowak’s late consolation could not stop a 2-1 win. Arsenal moved third on 10 points; Slavia stayed 34th on one.
Como score nine in Lens rout
Cesc Fabregas’s Como scored six second-half goals in France to beat Lens 9-1, with Anastasios Douvikas claiming a hat-trick and an assist. Nico Paz, Lucas da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martin Baturina and Matteo Papaccioli joined Douvikas on the scoresheet, with Ruben Aguilar replying for Lens.
Como became only the second team this century to score nine goals in a Champions League match, after Bayern Munich’s 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in September 2024. The win lifted Como to fourth on nine points.
Elsewhere, Porto beat Napoli 4-1 at home for their first points, through Scott McTominay, Gabri Veiga, Jakub Kiwior and a Samu Aghehowa penalty, after Jan Bednarek’s opener. Porto are 26th and Napoli 27th, both on three points. Konstantinos Karetsas scored Borussia Dortmund’s 72nd-minute winner in a 2-1 victory over Real Betis, whose winning start ended; Betis are 11th on nine points, ahead of Dortmund in 12th.
Champions League Wednesday results in full
The night’s results were: AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid, Fenerbahce 3-2 Liverpool, RB Leipzig 2-3 Manchester City, Slavia Prague 1-2 Arsenal, Lens 1-9 Como, Porto 4-1 Napoli, Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Real Betis, PSV Eindhoven 1-2 Club Brugge, and Viking Stavanger 4-1 Sabah.
The format rewards a fast start. In the 36-team league phase, the top eight sides after eight matchdays qualify directly for the last 16, while the next 16 teams enter two-legged playoffs.
Feature Pakistan reported Tuesday’s games, when Paris Saint-Germain beat Villarreal 6-0 to reach 12 points and Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0. The match details above follow the roundup published by Dawn, which draws on Reuters and AFP coverage of the night’s games.
Frequently asked questions
Who scored Real Madrid’s winner against AEK?
Federico Valverde scored in stoppage time to complete Real’s 3-2 comeback win at AEK Athens, after goals from Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe had twice pulled the visitors level.
How did Liverpool lose at Fenerbahce?
Liverpool led twice, through Trey Nyoni and Alexander Isak, but Archie Brown levelled in the 73rd minute and Vedat Muriqi headed the winner six minutes later, ending Liverpool’s perfect start.
Where do Real Madrid and Liverpool stand after four games?
Real are second on 12 points, behind Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference, while Liverpool dropped to eighth on nine points. Arsenal are third on 10 points and Como fourth on nine.
What happens next in the league phase?
The top eight sides after eight matchdays qualify directly for the last 16, while the teams placed ninth to 24th enter two-legged playoffs for the remaining last-16 places.
