Overview
- Real Madrid’s 3-0 first-leg win at the Bernabeu gives them a strong advantage to take to the Etihad in the Champions League last 16.
- Valverde scored his first career hat-trick, ending a run of 26 European appearances without a goal.
- Arbeloa deployed Valverde on the right and used Thibaut Courtois’ long deliveries to exploit space, with the opener arriving from that pattern after he beat Nico O’Reilly.
- Former coach Carlo Ancelotti praised Valverde in a message joking about a “Brazilian passport” and recalled a past bet that he would score 10 in a season.
- The performance crowns a decade-long rise from an unsuccessful Arsenal trial and role shifts to nearly 300 Real appearances and 11 major trophies.