Champions League Matchday 4: AEK Athens vs Real Madrid facts

Real Madrid take their perfect start to the UEFA Champions League campaign to AEK Athens, who are bidding to get back on course after successive defeats.

Previous meetings

The sides have met four times, winning one game each with two draws. Madrid won their 1985/86 UEFA Cup first round tie 5-1 on aggregate (0-1 a, 5-0 h) before drawing 3-3 in Athens and 2-2 in Madrid in the 2002/03 Champions League first group stage.

AEK are unbeaten in their two home matches against Madrid (W1 D1) and in their two home games against Spanish visitors in the Champions League proper, both draws – 3-3 against Madrid in October 2002 and 1-1 against Deportivo La Coruña in September 2003.

A 3-1 home win against Rayo Vallecano in last season's UEFA Conference League quarter-final second leg – confirming a 3-4 aggregate loss – ended AEK's 16-match run without a victory against Spanish sides (D5 L11).

Madrid's last game against a Greek club ended in a 4-3 win at Olympiacos on Matchday 5 last season, Kylian Mbappé scoring all the visitors' goals.

That was Madrid's first win away to Greek opponents in their eighth fixture (D5 L2).

Madrid have won seven of their 15 games against Greek clubs (D6 L2) – scoring 37 goals – but only three of the last eight (D4 L1).

Club history

AEK Athens

AEK have reached the Champions League proper for the sixth time, and the first since 2018/19, when they finished fourth in their group behind Bayern München, Ajax and Benfica having lost all six games.

AEK were Conference League quarter-finalists in 2025/26, losing 3-4 on aggregate to eventual runners-up Rayo Vallecano.

Real Madrid

Madrid are in the Champions League proper for the 31st time, a competition record they share with Barcelona. They last missed out in 1996/97 and have qualified for the knockout rounds in all 30 campaigns. This is their 57th season of European Cup football.

In 2025/26 Madrid were ninth in the league phase (W5 L3), beating Benfica (3-1 aggregate) and Manchester City (5-1) in the knockout phase before losing in the quarter-finals against Bayern (4-6).

Links and trivia

AEK Athens striker Luka Jović was a Madrid player between 2019 and 2022. Nine of his 51 appearances for the club came in the Champions League.

Oleksandr Zubkov scored in both of his Champions League appearances against Madrid for Shakhtar Donetsk – a 1-2 away loss and a 1-1 home draw in the 2022/23 group stage.

AEK were 1-0 winners against LASK on Matchday 1 and have lost only one of their last 12 home European matches (W10 D1), 0-2 to Celje in last season's Conference League round of 16 second leg (4-2 aggregate).

Beaten 5-1 at Manchester City on Matchday 3, AEK have won three of their 33 games in the Champions League proper (D12 L18).

AEK have never won a Champions League match in which they conceded the first goal (D6 L15).

None of AEK's last 31 home European games finished goalless.

Furthermore, there have been goals in AEK's last 15 matches in the Champions League proper.

Madrid have won all three of their league phase matches this season, beating Inter (2-1) and Leipzig (4-1) at home either side of a 4-3 victory at Roma.

José Mourinho's side are one of five clubs to have won their first three games.

None of Real Madrid's last 33 Champions League matches ended in a draw (W22 L11).

There have been goals in Madrid's last 34 group stage/league phase away matches, a club record, since a 0-0 draw at Paris Saint-Germain in October 2015.

Madrid's last six Champions League matches have produced 28 goals, an average of 4.67 per game.

Mbappé has scored in his last five Champions League appearances.

Jude Bellingham has made 59 appearances in the Champions League. Aged 23 years 128 days, he would be the youngest player to reach 60; Iker Casillas (23y 167d) is the current record holder.

Denzel Dumfries has made 49 appearances in the Champions League.