Aboubakary Koita follows Mido in making Champions League history against Real Madrid

Aboubakary Koita became the second Arab player to score his country’s first-ever UEFA Champions League goal against Real Madrid after finding the net for AEK Athens on Wednesday.

The Mauritanian forward scored in AEK Athens’ match against Real Madrid in the fourth round of the competition’s league phase, registering the first goal by a Mauritanian player in UEFA Champions League history.

Koita, 28, was added to a group of players from six different nations whose countries’ first goal in the competition came against Real Madrid, according to statistics from Mr Chip.

Egyptian striker Ahmed Hossam “Mido” was the first Arab player to achieve the feat. He scored Marseille’s goal against Real Madrid in 2003, becoming the first Egyptian to find the net in the history of the Champions League.

Koita has now joined that list 23 years later.

Four other players had previously opened their countries’ Champions League scoring accounts against Real Madrid:

– Tajikistan: Cherevchenko, playing for Lokomotiv Moscow, in 2001.
– Costa Rica: Centeno, representing AEK Athens, in 2002.
– Latvia: Verpakovskis, playing for Dynamo Kyiv, in 2004.
– Luxembourg: Thill, representing Sheriff Tiraspol, in 2021.

The statistic also highlights a connection with AEK Athens. Two of the players responsible for these landmark goals represented the Greek club: Costa Rica’s Centeno in 2002 and Mauritania’s Koita in 2026.

Koita’s goal therefore gave Mauritania a place in the competition’s record books while also extending a notable pattern involving Real Madrid, who have conceded the first Champions League goals scored by players from six nationalities.