Fenerbahce end Liverpool perfect Champions League start as Valverde late strike keeps Real Madrid unbeaten
Vedat Muriqi headed a 79th-minute winner as Fenerbahce beat Liverpool 3-2 in Istanbul, while Federico Valverde struck in stoppage time to give Real Madrid a 3-2 win at AEK Athens.
Liverpool's perfect start to the Champions League league phase ended in Istanbul on Wednesday night, as Fenerbahce came from behind twice to beat the visitors 3-2, while Real Madrid needed a stoppage-time strike from Federico Valverde to preserve their own unbeaten record with a 3-2 win at AEK Athens, Reuters and TNT Sports reported.
At the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Liverpool took the lead through Trey Nyoni's first senior goal, only for Mason Greenwood to level four minutes later, leaving the sides level at half-time. The pattern repeated after the break: Alexander Isak restored Liverpool's advantage in the 69th minute, Fenerbahce equalised again four minutes later, and Vedat Muriqi headed the winner in the 79th minute.
The result was Fenerbahce's first victory of the league phase under Dirk Kuyt, and it lifted the Turkish side to 19th place on five points, while Liverpool, who had won their first three matches, dropped to fifth on nine points. For Liverpool, the frustration was not only the defeat but the manner of it: twice they led, and twice they were pegged back within minutes, before Muriqi's late header settled a contest that had swung repeatedly in the second half.
In Athens, Real Madrid also had to come from behind twice. Aboubakary Koita gave AEK the lead after 12 minutes with a curling finish from just inside the penalty area, and Jude Bellingham answered in the 32nd minute with a sublime backheel finish to make it 1-1 at the break.
AEK went ahead again with 15 minutes remaining, when Koita set up Stavros Pilios for a close-range finish, but Real responded almost immediately, Kylian Mbappe tapping in a cross from Denzel Dumfries to restore parity. Then, in stoppage time, substitute Valverde lashed home from distance to complete the comeback and keep Real's record intact.
Real's win left them second in the table on 12 points from four matches, behind holders Paris Saint-Germain only on goal difference, while AEK stayed 30th on three points. The Spanish side, managed by Jose Mourinho, have now made a habit of late goals in this competition: TNT Sports noted that they have scored seven goals in the final 15 minutes of matches in this season's Champions League, more than any other club.
The two results underlined how quickly the league phase table can shift. Liverpool arrived in Turkey as one of the form teams of the competition, yet left with their first defeat and a reminder that a lead in this format is rarely secure, while Fenerbahce's first win moved them from the lower reaches of the standings into mid-table contention.
For Real, the night was a test of nerve as much as quality. Twice they trailed to a side with far less European pedigree, twice they found an answer, and the winner arrived when a draw looked the likeliest outcome. Mourinho's team have now won all four of their league-phase matches, and the manner of this victory, from behind and late, will only strengthen the sense that they are difficult to beat even when they are not at their best.
Attention now turns to the remaining fixtures of matchday four, with Arsenal, Manchester City and others still to play on Wednesday night, and to the next round of league-phase games later in November, when Liverpool will look to get their campaign back on track and Fenerbahce will try to build on a night that, for their supporters, will live long in the memory.
What the evening confirmed above all is that the new league phase rewards resilience. Both winning sides on Wednesday night's early kick-offs had to absorb setbacks, respond quickly and find a decisive moment late on, and both did exactly that, in two of the most entertaining matches of the season so far.
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