Champions League: Fenerbahce Beat Liverpool 3-2, Real Madrid Win 3-2 at AEK

Photo: 101 Great Goals

Wednesday night in the Champions League gave us two 3-2 thrillers. Fenerbahce came from behind twice to beat Liverpool 3-2 in Istanbul and end the Reds' perfect start, while Real Madrid came from behind twice to win 3-2 at AEK Athens, with Federico Valverde striking the winner in the 92nd minute.

In Istanbul, Liverpool twice led and twice let it slip. Trey Nyoni put the visitors ahead in the 25th minute with his first senior goal, only for Mason Greenwood to level four minutes later. Alexander Isak restored Liverpool's lead in the 69th minute, his first Champions League goal for the club, but Archie Brown levelled again in the 73rd minute, and Vedat Muriqi headed the winner in the 79th minute to send the home fans wild. 101 Great Goals reports that poor defending cost Liverpool, who had won their first three games in the competition and now suffer their first defeat of the campaign, while theScore notes Fenerbahce trailed 2-1 in the 69th minute before turning it around.

In Athens, the story was just as wild. Aboubakary Koita gave AEK the lead in the 12th minute, and Jude Bellingham levelled in the 32nd minute with a clever flick from Marc Cucurella's cross, his first Champions League goal of the season on his 60th appearance in the competition. Stavros Pilios put AEK ahead again in the 75th minute, but Kylian Mbappe levelled three minutes later from Denzel Dumfries' delivery, his sixth goal of the campaign and his sixth successive Champions League game with a goal. Then Valverde, on as a substitute, let fly from distance in the 92nd minute and watched his strike nestle in the corner. Flashscore reports the win ends AEK's seven match winning run at home, and Koita was sent off after the final whistle for dissent.

The two results, side by side, tell their own story:

• Fenerbahce 3-2 Liverpool: Nyoni 25, Greenwood 29, Isak 69, Brown 73, Muriqi 79
• AEK Athens 2-3 Real Madrid: Koita 12, Bellingham 32, Pilios 75, Mbappe 78, Valverde 92

For Real, the win keeps a perfect record in this season's competition, four wins from four, and moves Jose Mourinho's side closer to a top eight finish and straight through to the last 16. For Liverpool, the defeat is a first dent in a strong European start, and it follows a 1-0 league defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, so the Reds now have two defeats in a row to shake off. Pakistani fans will recognise the pattern from closer to home, where Hunza fighter Maliha Ali stunned a Russian champion this week, Babar Azam passed 16,000 international runs, and Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the tri-series opener, a reminder that underdogs and late winners are the best part of sport anywhere.

Sources

• theScore: UCL thrillers, Madrid survive AEK scare, Liverpool fall to Fenerbahce
• Flashscore: Valverde nets added-time stunner as Real produce comeback win against AEK Athens
• 101 Great Goals: Fenerbahce 3-2 Liverpool, Reds suffer first Champions League defeat
• Daily Waadaa: Valverde's 92nd-minute stunner seals Real Madrid's dramatic 3-2 win over AEK Athens

Next up, both sides turn back to their leagues, with Liverpool needing a response and Real chasing a fifth straight European win.

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