Valverde’s astonishing Real Madrid hat-trick leaves Manchester City on brink

<p>Federico Valverde was the Real Madrid hero who wrote himself into this storied club’s folklore with an immortal first-half, 22-minute hat-trick that decimated Manchester City and cast Pep Guardiola as a tactical novice.</p><p>Each of Valverde’s goals were a diagram of his supreme skill and City’s chump-like defending that leaves their hopes of a quarter-final berth near extinct. If Vinícius Júnior had netted a second-half penalty Real could all but celebrate progression, yet if City score early in Tuesday’s return who knows.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/mar/11/real-madrid-manchester-city-champions-league-last-16-first-leg-match-report">Continue reading...</a>