Real Madrid edge AEK Athens 3-2 to stay perfect in the Champions League

Real Madrid won 3-2 at AEK Athens. It was a fourth Champions League win in four games, and the goals conceded keep adding up.

AEK scored twice against a side that had been collecting wins by outscoring opponents.

The table after the match

Real are 2nd in the 36-team league phase with 12 points from 4 games. They have 4 wins, 0 draws and 0 defeats. They have scored 13 and conceded 7.

That goals-against column is the story. Two of those 7 came here.

A pattern in the recent run

Before this game, Real had won all of their last 5 across La Liga and the Champions League. They scored 17 and conceded 6 in that stretch.

The two Champions League games in that run tell the same story as the table. Real won 4-3 away at AS Roma, then 4-1 at home to RB Leipzig. In the league they won 2-1 at Barcelona and 3-0 at Racing Santander. Where Real did concede, as in the 4-3 at Roma, the 4-1 against Leipzig and the 2-1 at Barcelona, the attack scored enough to cover the leaks.

Kylian Mbappé has 4 goals and 1 assist in the competition. That is the clearest individual measure of how Real have been winning in Europe.

AEK: two goals, no points

AEK are 29th with 3 points from 4 games. They have 1 win and 3 defeats, with 5 goals scored and 11 conceded.

Their recent run, across the league, the cup and the Champions League, was 1 win and 3 defeats, with 7 scored and 10 conceded. They lost 5-1 at Manchester City on 20 October and 3-1 at PAOK in the cup. They also lost 2-0 at Panathinaikos on 1 November. Their one win in that run was a 5-0 home league win over Panetolikos.

Against that backdrop, two goals against Real is more than AEK managed at Manchester City (1), at PAOK (1) and at Panathinaikos (0). It is less than the 5 they scored against Panetolikos. It was not enough for a point, and AEK stay in the lower reaches of the table.

What it says about Real's defence

A win is a win, and 12 points from 4 games is the best possible return. But the numbers invite a question about how secure Real are at the back.

Real have conceded 7 in 4 league-phase games, and they have let in at least one in every Champions League game in their recent run: 3 at Roma, 1 against Leipzig and 2 here.

The attack has covered every gap so far. Real sit 2nd with a perfect record.

What to watch next

The league phase is still young, with 4 games played by each side. The things to track are whether Real's goals-against column keeps growing at this pace and whether the attack keeps outrunning it. AEK need points quickly from the bottom end of the table, and this game showed they can score.