Federico Valverde’s stunning first-half hat-trick gave Real Madrid a stunning 3-0 victory over Manchester City, and they still have a mountain to climb if they want to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Real Madrid, without the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo, went into the game as clear favorites for second place, but Valverde stole the show at the Bernabeu with a clinical 45-minute start.
Valverde expertly controlled Thibaut Courtois’ long pass over Nico O’Reilly and scored with his first touch. He evaded Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had charged to the edge of the penalty area, and slid the ball home from a very poor angle to give the hosts the lead (20 points).
This goal went somewhat against the flow of the game after City’s quick start, but Real Madrid took full control of the game when Valverde burst in behind the City defense, grabbed Vinicius Junior’s flicked pass and once again finished past Donnarumma (27′).
The first half was Valverde’s show and he capped off an incredible performance with perhaps the best goal of the night. He showed excellent touch as he carried the ball into the penalty area and flicked it past Marc Gouis. Donnarumma jumped out to block it, but Valverde took the shot (42 points), completing his first career hat-trick and leading the hosts to dreamland.
Valverde scores first career hat-trick
After Real Madrid’s disastrous first-half performance, Manchester City’s odds of winning the Champions League dropped from 9/1 to 33/1, but their chances could have been even higher had it not been for Donnarumma’s performance in the second half.
City’s goalkeeper had to be alert to prevent Brahim Dias’ low drive minutes after the restart as City were on the verge of collapse.
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Michael Brown reacts to Federico Valverde’s hat-trick in Real Madrid’s Champions League match against Manchester City
Donnarumma then atoned for his initial mistake by bringing down Vinicius Jr., who was sent through on goal. The Italian bounced back by denying the Brazilian a lackluster penalty just when City were hoping to regain momentum.
But Josep Guardiola’s side found Courtois in top form and the former Chelsea goalkeeper responded brilliantly, deflecting O’Reilly’s tackling shot over the crossbar with his foot to narrowly keep City’s place in the Champions League ahead of next week’s second leg at the Etihad.
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Soccer Special pundit Michael Brown said Real Madrid punished Josep Guardiola’s adventurous set-up on a disappointing Champions League night.
Pep: Man City have ‘not much’ chance of playing against Real but will always try
Guardiola admitted Man City didn’t have “many” chances, but did not rule out a dramatic comeback in next week’s second leg.
Guardiola said: “It’s a bad result. We can’t deny that.”
“We didn’t defend the first goal very well and after that it was a difficult result considering the quality that Valverde and the other players had.
“But obviously 3-0 is better than 4-0. We have six days to recover, go to West Ham and then work with the lads.”
Asked what opportunities City might have, Guardiola added: “There aren’t many, but I’m not the type of person to say I won’t try.”
“These are the most difficult times to live, but our mindset is to think about how we can be better and try to be more proactive in the last third.”
“Defeat feels really dark.”
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva told TNT Sports:
“It’s difficult to talk about it because you have to watch it again. The feeling on the pitch was that we had a good start to the game.
“I think the team allowed their emotions to change the game in an environment we didn’t have control over. We felt comfortable and found the right spaces, but after conceding the first goal we completely lost control and stopped controlling transitions and second balls. When you play with Real Madrid and the quality they have, you pay for it.”
“It’s a tough stadium to play here. It’s very tough to play at Anfield or St. James’ Park, so we’re used to playing in stadiums like these. You need to experience moments like this to get better and today was just a learning match for the whole team.”
“I’m pretty disappointed (not scoring). A lot of things can happen in soccer, so I believe there’s still a chance, but at halftime I said, ‘The situation is bad.’ There were a lot of things that shouldn’t have happened, but we’re tied with one goal.”
At 3-0 it gets a little harder. I feel really bad right now, I feel really dark right now. Tomorrow will be another day and we will definitely go into the game next week thinking we have a chance.
“It’s a time of reflection and looking at what we didn’t do right. And when we prepare for next week, we’ll be hopeful that we can do something.”
The story of the game in terms of statistics…
Trent: A lot of people expected us to get beat.
Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold told TNT Sports:
“It was a great performance. A lot of the noise leading up to this game after the draw happened, especially the way we played the last few games and the results, a lot of people expected us to be devastated tonight, but that just shows the mentality.”
“No matter what injuries there are or which players are out, this tournament means a lot to the club.
“And as players, we understand that.
“In the first half we executed our game plan perfectly. People will say their favorite result and the way both teams played and that may have been true, but in the Champions League anyone can beat anyone. We knew our game plan and we executed it and were very relentless in scoring.”
“Especially when you play for a club like this, you have to perform. You are expected to have no excuses. You have to win. So our mentality is to give it our all and win the game, no matter who is in front of us, when it’s a competition.”
When is the knockout stage?
Round of 16 Second Leg: March 17th-18th
Quarterfinals: April 7th-8th, 14th-15th
Semi-finals: April 28-29, May 5-6
Final: May 30th (Puskas Arena, Budapest, Hungary)
