{"id":25693,"date":"2026-03-12T05:32:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/real-madrids-valverde-scores-first-half-hat-trick-against-man-city\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T05:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:32:26","slug":"real-madrids-valverde-scores-first-half-hat-trick-against-man-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/real-madrids-valverde-scores-first-half-hat-trick-against-man-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Madrid&#8217;s Valverde scores first-half hat-trick against Man City"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>MADRID (AP) &#8211; There was uncertainty among Real Madrid fans ahead of Wednesday&#8217;s Champions League game against Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p>The team has a new and untested manager, but they have recently lost two consecutive league games and needed a last-minute change of direction to beat Celta Vigo last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Federico Valverde erased any doubters with a brilliant first 45 minutes, scoring a sublime hat-trick as Madrid won 3-0 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.<\/p>\n<p>Valverde completed a quick counter-attack, evading goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a deft touch and scoring the opener 20 minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>He ran onto a pass from Vinicius Junior and made it 2-0 seven minutes later with a low shot with his weak left foot.<\/p>\n<p>The Uruguayan midfielder made a last-minute save from Brahim D\u00edaz&#8217;s deft chip, flicking it over the outstretched legs of Marc Guehi and volleying past Donnarumma to make it 3-0 three minutes before half-time.<\/p>\n<p>Home fans shouted his name as the team left.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You dream of nights like this,&#8221; he told broadcaster Movistar, before adding that this was probably his best performance in all whites. &#8220;Tonight was fun. I haven&#8217;t enjoyed a game this much in a while.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The win capped off a remarkable few months for the 27-year-old Uruguayan. Valverde has been a versatile and reliable figure for Madrid during this turbulent season, especially since the start of the year.<\/p>\n<p>The injured Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 scored against City, while Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham made headlines.<\/p>\n<p>But through it all, Valverde remained a solid and reliable presence in midfield or at full-back, missing just one Champions League game and one La Liga game all season.<\/p>\n<p>For Alvaro Arbeloa, that reliability is invaluable. Even better news for the new manager is that Valverde appears to be at the peak of his form.<\/p>\n<p>Valverde, by no means the most prolific goalscorer, stepped up with Mbapp\u00e9 and Bellingham out injured. All six of his goals this season have come since January.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter where I play him,&#8221; Arbeloa said. &#8220;He is a reference point. Fede Valverde is everything a Real Madrid player should be.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP Soccer: <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/valverde-goals-real-madrid-city-champions-league-7c352c58ec2a9deab22064b1d0331434\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MADRID (AP) &#8211; There was uncertainty among Real Madrid fans ahead of Wednesday&#8217;s Champions League game against Manchester City. The team has a new and untested manager, but they have recently lost two consecutive league games and needed a last-minute change of direction to beat Celta Vigo last weekend. Federico Valverde erased any doubters with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Real Madrid&#039;s Valverde scores first-half hat-trick against Man City - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/real-madrids-valverde-scores-first-half-hat-trick-against-man-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Real Madrid&#039;s Valverde scores first-half hat-trick against Man City - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MADRID (AP) &#8211; There was uncertainty among Real Madrid fans ahead of Wednesday&#8217;s Champions League game against Manchester City. 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