Match Report & Player Ratings: Real Madrid 3-0 Manchester City (UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg) | OneFootball

In the absence of Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid managed to find the perfect makeshift goalscorer in Federico Valverde, who scored a 22 minute hat-trick to make Manchester City’s task of a comeback much harder and somewhat impossible, in next week’s second leg at the Etihad Stadium. 

A return for Erling Haaland and the absence of Mbappe, who is yet to recover from a knee injury, inevitably gave City more reason to go out and make the most of this first leg but it was Valverde who stunned even the native supporters here. 

The Real virtuoso used to go by the nickname ‘Pajarito’, which translates to little bird, but after building size in the gym his label was changed to ‘El Halcon’. Here, he showed the hunting instinct of a falcon, his prey the City defense.

The tie was only 42 minutes old when he secured the treble, the first of his professional career, and City looked completely out of their depth for large parts of this contest. 

After 57 minutes, Vinicius Jr. had the chance to capitalise from 12 yards and effectively gain entry into the quarter-final without needing a second leg after being taken down by Gianluigi Donnarumma but he failed miserably with a kick that epitomised misjudgment – a little like City’s approach to this weakened Real line-up. 

Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Eder Militao and Mbappe were just some of the names absent from this first leg tie in Madrid, which amounts to an estimated £390 million in market value at present. 

By the eighth minute, the game was heavily sided with Pep Guardiola’s troupe given Antoine Semenyo – making his UEFA Champions League debut alongside Marc Guehi – and Jeremy Doku both threatened in front of goal.

And although Vinicius Jr. and Brahim Diaz combined to almost punish City, forcing a rushed save out of Donnarumma, City restored some momentum with close openings from Nico O’Reilly and Bernardo Silva, the latter sweeping a quick shot past the left-hand post after 19 minutes.

However, it was from the following run of play wherein Thibaut Courtois lumped a 60 yard pass up front to Valverde, who only needed three touches to earn Real Madrid a lead. The midfielder took it past O’Reilly and then Donnarumma before finishing into the empty net. 

Only seven minutes later came the second: a devastating left-footed finish which highlighted Guardiola’s side’s problems before the hat-trick was topped off three minutes from the interval. 

The best goal of the night by some margin, Valverde received the ball from Diaz inside the penalty area before lifting the ball over the oncoming Guehi with his first touch; he finished the move by firing a volley into the far corner with his second. 

Make no mistake, this was one of City’s worst performances of the season and circumstances for Guardiola, facing Real Madrid for the 50th time as both a player and manager, could have been much worse.

For all his self-induced embarrassment, Dias cleared heroically from Vinicius Jr. shortly after the second half began while O’Reilly could have knocked in a corner while unmarked at the back post.

Real should have scored their fourth of the night as the hour approached when Donnarumma took Vinicius Jr. down inside the area, escaping what would have been a damaging red card. But the Italian managed to deny his victim from 12 yards. 

The onslaught continued, though. In the space of three minutes, Arda Guler and Vinicius Jr. both had a bullet and a bending effort drift away from the target respectively, while Courtois was heavily relied on by Thiago Pitarch, who made a mistake in his own box. 

After 89 minutes, Rayan Cherki dispatched a 19 yard strike from the left but it was flat and unthreatening, summing up the away side’s performance on a night to forget. 

Here’s how we rated the Manchester City players from their embarrassing defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu:

Starting XI

Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6

Made a strong stop in the early stages to deny Diaz but was bettered three times by Valverde with goals that, really, shouldn’t have come so easily for the home team. 

Abdukodir Khusanov – 4

Completely out of his depth despite his pace and aggression. Vinicius Jr. often beat him using his own strengths and it was clear that he was struggling. 

Ruben Dias – 5

Some productive long balls played early which opened space in the midfield for his side but how he should have closed down sooner on many occasions, not least the third goal. Cleared to avoid a fourth in the second half but a game to forget, for sure.

Marc Guehi – 4

His calmness in defence is usually a blessing but it was exposed terribly here. Got completely split open when Valverde completed his hat-trick. Same as Dias – a poor, poor display that needs to be put behind him. 

Nico O’Reilly – 4

Outplayed completely by Valverde for the first goal and outclassed by the midfielder’s first touch on the second. Some positives to take from his offensive game but it seems that his recent role further up has damaged his defensive game massively. 

Rodri – 5.5

Struggled to control the midfield like he does so often domestically. Of course, there were times where he played well in short passages, showing composure and intelligence but a bad day for the entire side. 

Bernardo Silva – 5

Didn’t impress nearly as much as he has recently. A few key passes and a close opportunity from him in the 19th minute made for a decent performance individually but could have made a greater impact. 

Savinho – 5

Didn’t create much in the first half and was taken off at the interval for Reijnders. Played really well against Newcastle on the weekend but this game proved to be much harder for him and the rest of his teammates. 

Antoine Semenyo – 5

Showed confidence on such a pressure-filled stage, especially on his UEFA Champions League debut and created vaguely. No real threat in those openings and needs to be more aggressive for the second leg.

Jeremy Doku – 7

Gave Alexander-Arnold nightmares in the opening stages with his quick feet and at one point didn’t even succumb to a three man press. No complaints from an individual standpoint but his teammates should have done better to get on the end of promising crosses from the winger. 

Erling Haaland – 5.5

Didn’t get a sniff the entire game and was surprised to see him stay on the pitch until the 82nd minute. He made some positive advancements from deep but his role as a striker was unidentifiable here. 

Substitutes

Tijjani Reijnders – 5

Created a chance and had a shot in his 45 minutes on the pitch. Tried his best in picking up the pieces from a broken performance – not terrible but not excellent either.

Omar Marmoush – No time to mark

Came on late and didn’t make an impact whatsoever since his introduction. 

Rayan Ait-Nouri – 6

Played much better down the left in the final 20 minutes than O’Reilly did and actually showed some desire in an otherwise dispirited side. Should have started at left-back following a run of good performances. 

Rayan Cherki – 4.5

A decent addition to the game from a technical standpoint and more opportunities came by with him on the pitch, yet there was never enough optimism from the entire squad to muster anything.