Real Madrid secured an impressive 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday, with all three goals scored by Fede Valverde.
Thibaut Courtois – 7.5
Did not have much to do in terms of saves, but he dominated his area from set-pieces. He did have to make a crucial stop with his foot to deny Nico O’Reilly in the second half.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6
Struggled up against Jeremy Doku in the early stages, but he got more confident as the match went on.
Antonio Rudiger – 8
Rudiger loves his battle with Erling Haaland, and this was another that he won. He was very solid throughout the 90 minutes, with his performance including a crucial intervention to deny the Man City number nine a goal in the second half.
Dean Huijsen – 7
Preferred to Raul Asencio, he was defensively sound after a difficult opening 20 minutes.
Ferland Mendy – 6.5
Only played the first half, but he did relatively well up against the wide threat of Antoine Semenyo.
Aurelien Tchouameni – 7
Man City rarely troubled when attacking down the middle of the pitch, and Tchouameni was a large reason for this.
Thiago Pitarch – 6
Looked out of place at times, and he always gave Man City a way back into the match late on.
Arda Guler – 6.5
A good all-round performance from Guler, who did his work defensively and tried his best in attack.
Fede Valverde – 9.5
What a performance from the Uruguayan. He scored all three goals for his first career hat-trick, but even without this, it was a top showing.
Brahim Diaz – 7
Got the assist for Valverde’s third goal, which was the highlight of a good display from the Morocco international.
Vinicius Junior – 7
Always a danger in attack, and he should have continued his scoring form from the penalty spot, but his effort was stopped by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Substitutes
Fran Garcia – 6.5
His defensive ability has been questioned many times in recent months, but he was solid in the second half.
Eduardo Camavinga – 6
Off the pace at times, as to be expected considering he was returning after a couple of weeks out.
Franco Mastantuono – 6
Worked hard.
Manuel Angel – 6
Champions League debut for the young midfielder.
Dani Carvajal – N/A
More minutes in the legs for Real Madrid’s captain.
