Federico Valverde’s stellar first-half hat trick was the catalyst as Real Madrid eased past Manchester City 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 match on Wednesday.
There was a feeling of uncertainty among Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu before Wednesday’s game with City. The Spanish giants have a new and untested coach, recently lost two league games in a row, and last weekend required a last-minute deflection to beat Celta Vigo.
But Valverde’s sublime triple put the home team in the driver’s seat for this much-awaited last-16 tie, becoming the first Uruguay player to score a hat trick in the Champions League.
Valverde completed a quick counter-attack and rounded goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a deft touch to score the opener after 20 minutes.
He ran on to a pass from Vinícius Júnior and then fired home a low shot with his weaker left foot seven minutes later to make it 2-0.
Valverde saved the best for last, taking Brahim Diaz’s clever chip and then knocking it over the outstretched leg of Marc Guéhi before volleying past Donnarumma to make it 3-0 three minutes before halftime.
Vinícius missed a second-half penalty to extend the lead, but the damage was done and Madrid cruised to the final whistle with City only giving them a little trouble over the course of the 90 minutes.
The two teams will meet again Tuesday for the second leg in Manchester, with Pep Guardiola’s side having plenty to do if it hopes to turn the tie around.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.
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