Real Madrid snapped their three-game winless streak with a much-needed 4–3 victory against Olympiacos on Wednesday evening thanks to a sensational performance from Kylian Mbappé.
With alarm bells sounding throughout the Spanish capital in recent weeks, the pressure was on Xabi Alonso and his men to secure three points in their trip to Karaiskakis Stadium, even without seven injured players and Jude Bellingham not fit enough to start.
Real Madrid still had Mbappé and Vinicius Junior, though, which was enough to come out on top in Greece. The Frenchman scored all four of his side’s goals while his partner in the attack bagged two assists.
Despite a late-surge from the hosts, Los Blancos closed out their Champions League bout against Olympiacos, moving up to fifth in the league phase standings.
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Real Madrid
Real Madrid survived a late-surge from Olympiacos. / Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images
*Ratings Provided by FotMob*
GK: Andriy Lunin—7.0: Underwhelming service out the back overshadowed the goalkeeper’s efforts between the posts.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold—6.5: Poor marking inside the box from Alexander-Arnold allowed Olympiacos to find their second. He had little to do otherwise since Real Madrid’s attack funneled down the left hand side of the pitch.
CB: Raúl Asencio—6.7: Careless at times on the ball, though Asencio made up for it with his physicality.
CB: Álvaro Carreras—6.9: Decent enough playing outside his natural position, but faltered in the later stages without Asencio to cover for him.
LB: Ferland Mendy—7.2: Did well in his first game in seven months. Mendy showed some flair in the final third and was solid at the back, though he will regret not properly closing down Martins in the build-up to Taremi’s goal.
DM: Aurélien Tchouaméni—7.6: Hardly put a foot wrong in his return from injury. The Frenchman was unlucky not to score.
DM: Eduardo Camavinga—8.0: Put in a stellar first half in which he recorded an assist, won seven of his eight duels and was everywhere defensively before he was pulled at halftime due to sickness.
RW: Federico Valverde—7.1: A quiet night from Valverde, who spent most of his time in acres of space on the right while his teammates commanded the attack from the left.
AM: Arda Güler—7.4: His best performance in some time. Without Bellingham on the pitch, Güler was back to pulling the strings of the attack and once again found great success linking up with Mbappé.
LW: Vinicius Junior—9.0: Sensational down the left. The winger toyed with his fellow countryman Rodinei all night long, beating the fullback with his pace, precision and pure dominance with the ball at his feet.
ST: Kylian Mbappé—9.9: Simply unstoppable. Mbappé looked poised to score every time he touched the ball, so much so that Olympiacos were lucky he only walked away with four.
Substitute Rating (Out of 10)
Dani Ceballos (46’ for Camavinga) 6.3
Jude Bellingham (61’ for Güler) 6.3
Brahim Díaz (73’ for Asencio) 5.8
Fran García (90’ for Vinicius Jr) N/A
Subs not used: Fran González (GK), Javier Navarro (GK), Endrick, Gonzalo García, Rodrygo
Olympiacos (4-2-3-1)
Starting XI: Konstantinos Tzolakis; Rodinei, Panagiotis Retsos, Lorenzo Pirola, Francisco Ortega; Christos Mouzakitis, Dani García; Gelson Martins, Chiquinho, Daniel Podence; Ayoub El Kaabi
Subs used: Mehdi Taremi, Santiago Hezze, Giulian Biancone, Gabriel Strefezza, Costinha
Player of the Match: Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior
Kylian Mbappé (left) and Vinicius Junior were at their best against Olympiacos. / Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images
Eager to make a statement after being benched at the weekend, Vinicius Jr got things off to a lively start for Real Madrid on Wednesday evening. It took less than three minutes for the winger to streak down the left flank and test goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis with a dipping strike from the edge of the box.
The effort might have been parried away, but it was a positive sign for a Los Blancos attack that came into the fixture with just two goals in nearly 300 minutes of football. Yet instead of building on the quick start, the visitors became lackadaisical in the midfield and paid the price just five minutes later.
Silky passing from Daniel Podence and Ayoub El Kaabi got the better of Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, and suddenly Chiquinho was free at the top of the box to receive the ball and fire home a half-volley.
Trailing 1–0, Alonso’s men mustered up an emphatic response, one led by Vinicius Jr and Mbappé. The Brazilian played a sensational trivela pass right into the stride of his partner up top, who got off a right-footed strike under pressure to bring his side level in the 22nd minute.
In the blink of an eye, Mbappé had a seven-minute hat trick, the second-fastest in Champions League history. He buried a powerful header—his first in a white shirt—into the back of the net for his second and then capped off a perfectly timed run with another calm, right-footed finish, while all the hosts could do was watch.
A 7 minute hat-trick. You don't stay ahead of Real Madrid for long when Mbappe's on the pitch. pic.twitter.com/TBgUMeDhtc
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) November 26, 2025
Vinicius Jr thought he joined the scoring party in the 32nd minute, but his goal was wiped away for offside in the build-up. Tchouaméni also tried his best to get on the scoresheet, but his curling strike from distance was denied by the crossbar.
Despite dominating the rest of the first half and the early minutes of the second, lazy defending from Real Madrid let Olympiacos back into the game. A sequence that started with Gelson Martins getting the better of Ferland Mendy ended with Trent Alexander-Arnold letting Mehdi Taremi head home the hosts’ second uncontested.
Vinicius Jr and Mbappé then swiftly restored their side’s two-goal cushion, with the latter bagging his fourth goal at Karaiskakis Stadium. All the credit goes to Real Madrid’s No. 7, though, for blowing by Panagiotis Retsos, driving into the box and finding the France international.
José Luis Mendilibar’s men would not stay down. El Kaabi sent a thumping header past Andriy Lunin to make it 4–3 in the 81st minute. Los Blancos’ makeshift backline held onto its three points for dear life until it was saved by the final whistle.
Statistic Olympiacos Real Madrid
Possession 38% 62%
Expected Goals (xG) 0.38 0.87
Total Shots 6 10
Shots on Target 4 5
Big Chances 1 2
Pass Accuracy 79% 87%
Fouls 7 2
Corners 2 4
Statistic Olympiacos Real Madrid
Possession 41% 59%
Expected Goals (xG) 1.57 1.65
Total Shots 18 15
Shots on Target 8 7
Big Chances 3 4
Pass Accuracy 81% 87%
Fouls 12 7
Corners 3 5
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