Manchester City have a mountain to climb in the Champions League last 16 after Federico Valverde’s remarkable first-half hat-trick gave Real Madrid a 3-0 win in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
City went into the game as favourites against a Madrid side missing the injured Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham and on a shaky run of form at their famous home. Madrid had lost two of their previous three home matches, those defeats coming against Osasuna and Getafe.
Yet City were blown away as Madrid captain Valverde stole the show scoring three times in 22 minutes to give Alvaro Arbeloa’s side complete command ahead of Tuesday’s return leg at the Etihad Stadium.
It could have been even better for Madrid, but Vinicius Junior saw a poor second-half penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, with that huge missed opportunity giving City at least a glimmer of hope of a turnaround next week.
Fantastic Fede gives Real Madrid control
City dictated proceedings early, though it was Madrid forward Brahim Diaz who had the best chance of the opening exchanges as he forced Donnarumma into a fine save, albeit with replays suggesting he may have been marginally offside.
City paid the price for failing to take advantage of their superiority after Bernardo Silva had fired wide on the volley.
The visitors were caught cold from the subsequent goal-kick, as Thibaut Courtois’ tremendous long ball sent Valverde free down the right
The Uruguay international still had a lot of work to do to round the onrushing Gianluigi Donnarumma, but he had the composure to do so and found the net from a difficult angle.
Valverde’s sense of calm was evident again as he doubled his tally and the Madrid lead seven minutes later. Vinicius Junior’s pass deflected off Ruben Dias and into the path of Valverde, whose fine finish across Donnarumma left the Italian with no chance.
The third was undoubtedly a case of Valverde saving his best for last, as a rapid Madrid counter ended with him flicking an excellent pass from former City man Diaz over the head of Marc Guehi and beating Donnaruma with a volley that sent the home fans into raptures.
A brilliant save from Donnarumma was required to stop Diaz from making it 4-0 early in the second half, with Antoine Semenyo then similarly frustrated by Courtois.
Vinicius miss hands Manchester City hope
But the missed chance Madrid may yet rue was an overly nonchalant penalty from Vinicius.
The Brazilian was brought down by Donnarumma after City were undone by another long ball, but the former Paris Saint-Germain keeper redeemed himself by easily saving Vinicius’ tame effort after a staggered run-up.
Madrid spurned further less pretestable chances to make it 4-0, but they were grateful again to Courtois for ensuring they will head into the return leg with a three-goal advantage, their goalkeeper alert to deny Nico O’Reilly after teenager Thiago Pitarch lost possession inside his own box.
City never threatened to cut the deficit thereafer, likely leaving Guardiola facing some difficult questions about his starting XI.
Pep pays price for team selection
Guardiola made seven changes from the side that brilliantly came from behind to beat Newcastle United 3-1 in the FA Cup.
Yet the decision to go with an extremely attacking line-up, with Savinho retaining his place in the XI as he Antoine Semenyo and Jeremy Doku operated behind Erling Haaland, backfired spectacularly.
City’s early control quickly dissipated after Courtois’ long ball caught them out, with Madrid continually exploiting the masses of space in the midfield to launch dangerous counter-attacks.
And, for all the attacking talent on the pitch for City, their gilt-edged chances were few and far between.
Guardiola has got it wrong several times with his team selection for major European ties during his storied City tenure, and it’s tough to escape the conclusion that this was another evening on which his approach was misguided.
Real Madrid history-makers
The first goal saw Courtois make history with his superb assist.
Courtois became just the second goalkeeper to assist two or more goals in a Champions League season, while the Belgian also claimed the outright record for the most assists in the competition by a goalkeeper, his ball for Valverde taking his tally to three.
Valverde, meanwhile, emulated Barcelona legend Lionel Messi in becoming only the second player to score a first-half hat-trick against an English club.
Messi achieved the feat against Arsenal in 2010 in a 4-1 win in the second leg of the quarter-finals, with Barca prevailing 6-3 on aggregate.
Champions League draw
The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals is:
Paris Saint-Germain or Chelsea v Galatasaray or Liverpool
Real Madrid or Manchester City v Atalanta or Bayern Munich
Newcastle or Barcelona v Atletico Madrid or Tottenham
Bodo/Glimt or Sporting CP v Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal
The draw for the Champions League semi-finals is:
Silver path: PSG/Chelsea/Galatasaray/Liverpool v Real Madrid/Manchester City/Atalanta/Bayern Munich
Blue path: Newcastle/Barcelona/Atlético Madrid/Tottenham v Bodo/Sporting CP/Bayer Leverkusen/Arsenal
