Real Madrid player ratings: Captain’s performance from Valverde

Real Madrid secured an impressive 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday, with all three goals scored by Fede Valverde.

Thibaut Courtois – 7.5

Did not have much to do in terms of saves, but he dominated his area from set-pieces. He did have to make a crucial stop with his foot to deny Nico O’Reilly in the second half.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6

Struggled up against Jeremy Doku in the early stages, but he got more confident as the match went on.

Antonio Rudiger – 8

Rudiger loves his battle with Erling Haaland, and this was another that he won. He was very solid throughout the 90 minutes, with his performance including a crucial intervention to deny the Man City number nine a goal in the second half.

Dean Huijsen – 7

Preferred to Raul Asencio, he was defensively sound after a difficult opening 20 minutes.

Ferland Mendy – 6.5

Only played the first half, but he did relatively well up against the wide threat of Antoine Semenyo.

Aurelien Tchouameni – 7

Man City rarely troubled when attacking down the middle of the pitch, and Tchouameni was a large reason for this.

Thiago Pitarch – 6

Looked out of place at times, and he always gave Man City a way back into the match late on.

Arda Guler – 6.5

A good all-round performance from Guler, who did his work defensively and tried his best in attack.

Fede Valverde – 9.5

What a performance from the Uruguayan. He scored all three goals for his first career hat-trick, but even without this, it was a top showing.

Brahim Diaz – 7

Got the assist for Valverde’s third goal, which was the highlight of a good display from the Morocco international.

Vinicius Junior – 7

Always a danger in attack, and he should have continued his scoring form from the penalty spot, but his effort was stopped by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Substitutes

Fran Garcia – 6.5

His defensive ability has been questioned many times in recent months, but he was solid in the second half.

Eduardo Camavinga – 6

Off the pace at times, as to be expected considering he was returning after a couple of weeks out.

Franco Mastantuono – 6

Worked hard.

Manuel Angel – 6

Champions League debut for the young midfielder.

Dani Carvajal – N/A

More minutes in the legs for Real Madrid’s captain.