It was tipped to be a great contest at the Bernabeu with Manchester City looking favourites to upset Real Madrid in the 1st leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 contest last night.
I had warned however that Real Madrid at the Bernabeu are ferocious and have fought many a battle to protect their fortress and supremacy at home.
City were all geared up and Pep Guardiola had fielded his strongest line-up against a comparatively weaker Real Madrid. However, what transpired eventually on the pitch had Manchester City licking their wounds.
Real Madrid’s captain Valverde produced a scintillatingly inspired performance to virtually seal the deal for Real Madrid in the first half itself.
Three stirring finishes, great composure, sublime ball control and tremendous support from the other players, led to Valverde’s hat trick in the first half. City were stunned and though Pep Guardiola said that his team deserved better than the 3-0 score line, Valverde’s performance was far too overbearing for City to come back into the match.
One man’s brilliance just stifled the opposition and with the fans solidly behind their team, it was virtually impossible for City to stage a reprisal.
Real Madrid, have a toe hold in the quarter finals now. To overturn a three goal deficit at the Etihad Stadium next week, will take a lot of doing from Manchester City and though a statistical possibility definitely exists, the contest is more or less done, in Real’s favour.
No wonder Arbeloa would be a very happy man.