Manchester City have a mountain to climb heading into the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie at the Etihad Stadium, following a damaging 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu
Gianluigi Donnarumma has made his feelings clear about Man City's Champions League hopes.
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Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made his feelings clear to Joe Hart with a private message, claiming the Champions League tie with Real Madrid is far from over.
On TNT Sport, Hart lifted the lid on an interaction between the two after the full-time whistle and the former City goalkeeper said: "He said: ‘Let’s go, it’s not over, let’s go', It gave me chills, I love that guy!"
Pep Guardiola's side have a mountain to climb with Real Madrid racing into a 3-0 lead by half-time. A brilliant hat-trick from Fede Valverde has Alvaro Arbeloa's side in total control ahead of the second leg at the Etihad Stadium next week.
A lot had been made of Los Blancos' extensive injury list ahead of Wednesday's encounter with their old adversaries at the Bernabeu, with notable absentees including Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo.
However, Valverde rose to the occasion and the Uruguayan midfielder tore City to shreds with a ruthless display of finishing.
Federico Valverde of Real Madrid celebrates with his teammates Vinicius Junior and Brahim Diaz of Real Madrid after scoring the team's third goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg match between Real Madrid CF and Manchester City FC
Manchester City were thrashed 3-0 by Real Madrid
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He netted three times in just 22 minutes and things could have deteriorated further for Pep Guardiola's men had Donnarumma not denied Vinicius Junior from the penalty spot in the second half.
It capped a miserable 48 hours for English clubs in the Spanish capital following Tottenham's 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
City, who had entered the tie as favourites, have a daunting challenge in next week's return leg at the Etihad Stadium.
The away side actually began positively and tried to impose themselves on Real Madrid. Antoine Semenyo unleashed an early effort at Thibaut Courtois whilst the energetic Jeremy Doku fired efforts across the goalmouth.
Nico O'Reilly also came close and Bernardo Silva sent a volley narrowly wide as they tried to capitalise on a depleted Real Madrid side.
But the hosts issued a warning when former City academy graduate Brahim Diaz drew a save from Donnarumma, though it went ignored.
The Premier League side were caught napping by a long delivery from Courtois which sailed over O'Reilly's head, and Valverde controlled it superbly in his stride. He then glided past Donnarumma and finished superbly while off-balance from a narrow angle.
City had scarcely had chance to recover before Valverde added his second seven minutes later. He may have benefited from fortune as a Vinicius pass deflected into his path, but there was nothing lucky about his touch as he composed himself to fire a low left-footed effort beyond Donnarumma.
The third was the best of the bunch and completed his stunning hat-trick before the interval as Jude Bellingham watched on in awe.
Valverde flicked the ball over the head of Marc Guehi and hammered home a volley to ramp up the pressure on City ahead of the return fixture.