Valverde's hat trick was the cherry on top of Madrid's performance vs. Man City

MADRID -- Federico Valverde scored a fabulous first-half hat trick as Real Madrid stunned Manchester City by winning 3-0 in their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Santiago Bernabéu.

The Uruguayan midfielder found the net three times in 22 minutes to hand Álvaro Arbeloa a statement win as Madrid head coach and put the Spanish giants on course to reach the last eight ahead of next week's second leg at the Etihad Stadium.

It would have been even better for Arbeloa, appointed as Xabi Alonso's replacement in January, had he not seen Vinícius Júnior squander the chance to score a fourth when his second-half penalty was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City had opportunities to get back into the tie and Thibaut Courtois pulled off a point-blank reaction save to deny Nico O'Reilly.

In the absence of key players including Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo, Courtois played his part, but it was Valverde who proved the difference between the two teams.

His first goal -- at the time against the run of play -- came courtesy of a long ball forward from Courtois, his second thanks to a cool finish from the left side of the penalty area and his third after a world-class touch to nudge the ball around Marc Guéhi on what turned into another famous Champions League night for Real Madrid. -- Rob Dawson

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Valverde does his best Mbappé impression

With no Mbappé, and no Bellingham -- both injured -- Madrid needed someone to step up and deliver a star performance against City. And, to be more precise, someone to put the ball in the back of the net.

Prematch, the most likely candidate looked like Vinícius, Madrid's most consistent goal threat in the Champions League knockout stage over the past five years. Vinícius did all right, winning and failing to convert a second-half penalty. But he wasn't the star of the show.

Step up, Valverde, scorer of, before tonight, just three Champions League goals in his entire career. Now it's six. What Valverde did in the first half was remarkable, scoring three goals with which any player -- including Mbappé or any other elite forward -- would have been delighted.

The first, assisted by Courtois' long punt upfield, showcased his energy to beat O'Reilly to the ball and keep going, keeping a cool head to beat Donnarumma. The second found him, inexplicably, in the center forward position, making a clever run, and finishing well. And the third was the pick of the bunch, featuring a glorious touch to lift the ball over Guéhi, completing the hat trick.

Valverde has had a strange season. Earlier in the campaign, he was used as an emergency right back by then-coach Alonso, and publicly voiced his unhappiness in the role, even drawing criticism for appearing to be reluctant to warm up properly in the game away at Kairat Almaty.

He was one of the senior players who ESPN reported was not enamored with Alonso's management, and drew some whistles from the Bernabéu crowd in January as the fans voiced their disapproval of the coach's dismissal.

Arbeloa, however, has been constant in his praise of Valverde, calling him "everything a Real Madrid player should be" last week after he scored a 94th-minute winner at Celta Vigo, and reverting him to his preferred central midfield position.

And now this. Against City, Arbeloa used Valverde as a marauding right winger, the role he had so much success with in this competition under former Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, and was rewarded with one of the performances of the season.

"I always try to adapt to the coach's ideas," Valverde said on Tuesday. "I've played in many positions, not always in midfield, but I try to contribute, to give my best." Here, he delivered that, and more. -- Alex Kirkland

City's defining spell suffers nightmare start

Pep Guardiola always says the most important game is the next one, but there's no getting away from the fact that the next month will define City's campaign.

Two games against Real Madrid, another two against Arsenal -- one in the Carabao Cup final and one in the Premier League -- and an FA Cup quarterfinal against Liverpool will determine how successful they are this season. It's a run of challenging fixtures that has now got off to the worst possible start.

City arrived in Madrid smelling blood against a Real Madrid team in poor form and missing key players. They leave as the ones licking their wounds. Guardiola must pick up his players quickly, starting with the trip to West Ham United on Saturday, or their season could unravel very quickly.

It would only take a few more dropped points in the league, a lackluster performance against Real Madrid at the Etihad next week and defeat to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final to leave very little to play for after the international break.

For now, they're still fighting for four trophies, but a potential quadruple is hanging by a thread. -- Dawson

Where does this leave Arbeloa and Madrid?

A few days before this game, a source told ESPN that Arbeloa would need "a miracle" to still be in charge at Madrid next season. Either that, or winning the Champions League, which given how Madrid have played for most of this season, would amount to the same thing.

They haven't won the Champions League yet, but this was unquestionably the biggest result and the defining performance of the brief Arbeloa era to date, and the first game that he can point to as evidence of progress, of a team being built, with a coherent idea behind it.

Alonso's Madrid were beaten 2-1 here by City in December, and -- while they weren't overwhelmed -- they were outplayed by Guardiola's team. But on Wednesday, after a slow opening 20 minutes, they were by far the better side, even if City were disappointing. This, Arbeloa will say, is how his Madrid have to play: with aggression and intensity, going direct when required, with homegrown youngsters playing a key part.

Thiago Pitarch, 18, on his first Champions League start, impressed for his 76 minutes on the pitch, until he gave the ball away in a dangerous area, forcing Courtois to make a trademark stunning save. But even when he was replaced, it was by another youth product, the 21-year-old Manuel Ángel. And Madrid's players were quick to show their support for Pitarch after that error. Arbeloa knows the academy, and he's shown that his praise of Madrid's production line of talent isn't just talk.

Despite all their struggles this season, Madrid are second in LaLiga, four points off the top, and they've now put themselves in a really strong position to reach the Champions League quarterfinals, where they would almost certainly face Bayern Munich.

Is Madrid likely to eliminate Bayern? All the evidence this season suggests that the answer is no. And in LaLiga, they've got some season-defining games coming up as well, like the derby with Atlético Madrid on March 22. But finally, after an inconsistent two months, Arbeloa has a convincing, high-profile win to point to, against a top-level opponent, to give his players, and the fans, something to believe in. -- Kirkland

Guardiola's "surprise" team fails to pay off

Arbeloa said he was expecting a surprise from Guardiola and he was right. Not many traveling City fans would have predicted starts for Abdukodir Khusanov, Jérémy Doku and Savinho -- particularly after all three started in a heavily-rotated team at Newcastle United on Saturday.

It didn't work. Semenyo and Savinho were largely anonymous in the first half as Valverde ran riot, and it was no surprise that Guardiola changed things at halftime. Savinho was sacrificed for Tijjani Reijnders and Semenyo was moved out to the left -- where he was expected to start in the first place.

City's problems weren't all down to Guardiola's team selection. They were largely in control for the first 20 minutes before a long clearance. Courtois caught out O'Reilly on the halfway line to allow Valverde to score his first.

It was another long ball forward early in the second half, which led to Vini Jr. being brought down by Donnarumma for Real Madrid's penalty before the Italian made up for it by saving the penalty kick. It was that kind of night for City defensively. -- Dawson