Real Madrid 3-0 Man City: Valverde hat-trick hands Guardiola joint-heaviest Champions League knockout first-leg defeat | OneFootball

Real Madrid thrashed Manchester City 3-0 in the Champions League round of 16 first leg at the Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday.

Madrid took the lead in the 21st minute. Federico Valverde took advantage of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s poor positioning to open the scoring.

Valverde made it 2-0 after the half-hour mark, picking out the far corner after Vinicius Junior’s pass deflected into his path inside the area.

The Uruguayan completed his hat-trick before half-time with a moment of brilliance, controlling Brahim Diaz’s pass before evading a challenge and finishing clinically.

Donnarumma made a brilliant save to deny Diaz after the break as Madrid looked to pick up where they left off before the break.

Thibaut Courtois kept out Antoine Semenyo’s effort after playing a lovely one-two with Bernardo Silva.

Madrid were handed a penalty in the 56th minute after Vinicius was brought down inside the box, but Donnarumma saved his effort.

Courtois later produced a brilliant stop to preserve Madrid’s three-goal cushion, sticking out a leg to keep out Nico O’Reilly’s close-range strike.

The defeat was manager Pep Guardiola’s joint-heaviest in the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie.

It matched defeats against Barcelona in the 2014/15 semi-finals and Liverpool in the 2017/18 quarter-finals.