Manchester City vs Real Madrid Barcelona was a dominating 3-0 match to the Spanish giants in the first leg of the UEFA champions league last-16 match in Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid had Federico Valverde, who made the first hat-trick of his life to provide his side with an overwhelming advantage.
Manchester City began the game on a high note with aggression as it was threatening under the tactical arrangement of Pep Guardiola. Nonetheless, the pace of attack by Real Madrid was too quick to avert it by the City.
The first objective of the game was reached at the 20 th minute. Thibaut Courtois, a goalkeeper, threw a long ball further on, which freed Valverde on the right wing. The Uruguayan passed defenders of City and ran round Gianluigi Donnarumma and persisted in placing the goal within the net with calmness. Such an early blow predetermined the clinical work of Madrid.
Valverde also persistently challenged the defense of City demonstrating great speed, ball handling and scoring. All the objectives showed that Madrid were efficient in transferring to transition as they took advantage of loopholes in the City arrangement in addition to defensive organization.
Real Madrid was clever in the possession and kept the City on their heels, reducing the chances of clear opportunities. The way they were tactically disciplined and went at the opposition with counter-attacks made the Spanish side appear virtually impregnable at all times.
Real Madrid now has a strong position of making it to the quarter-finals after having a 3-0 advantage over the first leg. The second leg is not an easy task of overturning the deficit by Manchester City against a comfortable and clinical Madrid team.
Both fans and analysts lauded the great performance of Valverde, which can be remembered as one of the best personal performances in the history of the Champions league.
