Real Madrid defeated Manchester City 3-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie. Federico Valverde brought the crowd to their feet in the first 45 minutes at the Bernabeu, scoring three goals to make up for the absences of Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham. Vinicius Junior wasted a chance to put four goals on the scoreboard when the Brazilian star missed a penalty, while Thibaut Courtois saved his side in the dying moments to put Los Blancos in pole position for the next round of the competition.

A “five-star” duel in the “competition of stars” at the “Bernabeu”, where Real Madrid and Manchester City faced off in the first leg of the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. The team from the Spanish capital came into this game after overcoming Benfica Lisbon in the play-offs, while the British team finished among the first eight teams in the current European season, the victory obtained in the last stage of the league phase against Galatasaray, respectively, the “misstep” marked by “los blancos” in Portugal, significantly contributing to achieving this result.

Real Madrid and Manchester City met for the fifth season in a row in the knockout stages of the continental competition, and the statistics, before the starting whistle of this game, tilted towards the Iberian camp, because the “galactics” had eliminated the British team four times in this continental competition, including in the last two seasons. The only defeat recorded by the club from the capital of Spain in Europe, on home soil, had been recorded in the company of the “citizens”, in a match that was played in the league phase, final score 1-2.

Alvaro Arbeloa faced a long list of absences for this match, Jude Bellingham, Dani Ceballos, Eder Militao, Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappe, Alvaro Carreras and David Alaba being unavailable for the hosts, while Eduardo Camavinga was “questionable” for this match. On the other hand, Pep Guardiola could not rely on Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis in this match, but the Catalan coach has Rodri at his disposal, who has fully recovered from the injury he suffered a long time ago.

In the most recent duels played by the two teams, the “los blancos” team had achieved a narrow success, against Celta Vigo, away, in LaLiga, while the English had triumphed in the FA Cup, on the field of Newcastle United, final score 3-1. In his coaching career, Pep Guardiola, after teams such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, has faced Real Madrid most times in all competitions, regardless of the group he led. In fact, since he took over Manchester City, the manager who also worked at Barcelona or Bayern Munich has achieved five successes, four failures and two draws in the company of the Spaniards in the Capital.

The first shot on target in this confrontation belonged to the “citizens”, when, after a successful incursion by Bernardo Silva, Jeremy Doku remained with the ball at his foot and shot on the ground, but the ball was retained without problems by Thibaut Courtois. Real Madrid “replied” a few moments later, when Vinicius Junior’s through ball was picked up by Brahim Diaz, but Gianluigi Donnarumma blocked the Moroccan’s shot. Bernardo Silva took advantage of a miscued clearance by Federico Valverde and decided to volley from the edge of the box, but the ball went wide.

The opening goal came from a deep pass from Thibaut Courtois to Federico Valverde, and after a quick pass past Nico O’Reilly, the Uruguayan dribbled past Gianluigi Donnarumma and slotted home the opener, scoring Real Madrid’s first chance of the match. The lead was doubled a few minutes later when Vinicius Junior’s through ball found the home team’s captain, who, after crossing the area, finished with a well-placed shot into the far corner.

Federico Valverde completed his hat-trick near the end of the first half when he received a ball inside the penalty area from Brahim Diaz, and the South American player took it flawlessly, elegantly passed Marc Guehi and finished with a powerful shot, into the far corner, the Italian goalkeeper of the “citizens” having no chance to parry the execution. The second half began with a change made in the “los blancos” team, Ferland Mendy leaving the field of play injured, his place being taken by Fran Garcia.

The first dangerous opportunity of the second half of the match was signed by Brahim Diaz, who, after dribbling easily past Ruben Dias, shot at Gianluigi Donnarumma. Antoine Semenyo had the chance to reduce the deficit on the scoreboard, but the player brought in from Leeds United shot directly into the chest of Thibaut Courtois. Then, on the counterattack, Arda Guler released Vinicius Junior into free space, and the Brazilian footballer dribbled past the Italian goalkeeper of Manchester City, being brought down by Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Italian referee of the match gave a penalty for the hosts, but the “seven” of “los blancos” missed from the penalty spot, his goal being disallowed by an intervention of the Italian goalkeeper.

Vinicius Junior had the chance to “get his revenge” later, when, receiving a ball on the left flank of the field, he entered the center and shot to the far corner, but his execution narrowly missed the goal. Thibaut Courtois intervened decisively on an execution sent by Rayan Cherki in the 74th minute of the confrontation, when a defensive error allowed the French footballer to “stab” the ball towards the opposing goal, but the Belgian goalkeeper was on the post.

At the end of this resounding success in the UEFA Champions League, the two groups return domestically, where Real Madrid will host Elche, while Manchester City will “face off” with West Ham United in London.