Article by Tudor Belivacă – Published on Thursday, 12 March 2026, 00:29 / Updated on Thursday, 12 March 2026 00:38
Federico Valverde (37), the Real Madrid midfielder, spoke immediately after the end of the match in which he scored a hat-trick against Manchester City. The Madrid team won 3-0 and have only one formality to complete on the return leg.
The Uruguayan scored the first hat-trick of his career and described the match as the best of his life. Federico Valverde also explained that it was no accident that he scored as a striker because that's what Arbeloa asked him to do: to come from the second line and be decisive.
Despite the advantage, the Bernabeu hero put it bluntly: “The qualification is not played. We go and play like at 0-0″.
What Federico Valverde said after scoring a hat-trick against Manchester City: “You dream of nights like this”
“It's incredible, you dream of nights like this. I want to thank my teammates for the confidence they give me to be good mentally, but also the technical staff and the fans, who always support us. It is a difficult season and they are always with us. We are grateful to them.
Yes, definitely the best match of his career. Especially when it comes to goals. I was very happy today. It had been a long time since I had been this happy. I am happy and satisfied for the team's victory,” Federico Valverede said, according to AS.
That's what I'm trying to do, it's what the coach asks of me, to come from the second line, to attack. Today we had more players able to hold onto the ball and I tried to attack more.
My colleagues gave me incredible passes, I thank them. I practiced this aspect quite a lot, especially when returning the ball from the goal. They press man to man and there is space at the back to run. We are fast and it worked well.
We must act like brothers, defend each other, help each other, cover each other's backs. It shows when the team is united; if we work together we can achieve great things. In the last minutes we were tired, but the team kept fighting. We know that in Manchester it is very difficult, they put a lot of pressure and their fans push the team from the back. We have to go there like it's 0-0 and work hard
–Federico Valverdethe Real Madrid midfielder
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Federico Valverde made the step up to Real Madrid's senior team in 2018. He has amassed 361 appearances, 35 goals and 43 assists. It is quoted by specialized websites at 120 million euros.
People expected us to be crushed tonight, but that just shows our mentality. I executed the game plan perfectly. When you get to the knockout stages of the Champions League, anyone can beat anyone.
–Trent Alexander-ArnoldReal Madrid defender, for TNT Sports
