There are performances that are destined for a special place even in a history as rich as Real Madrid’s. Fede Valverde has achieved much in his time at the Bernabeu and may yet end this season lifting the Champions League trophy but this was his night, a seminal, spectacular performance.

Often Real’s deluxe odd-job man, Valverde took on the role of the superstar, glittering on a terrible night for Pep Guardiola.

No Kylian Mbappe, no Jude Bellingham, no Rodrygo? No problem. Valverde more than compensated for the absence of Real’s injured attackers. He took on the mantle of the sidelined Rodrygo, often the tormentor of Manchester City.

He had three goals all season. Indeed, he had three in 75 Champions League appearances. Then came three before half-time.

Stand-in skipper, stand-in scorer, he was outstanding. The first hat-trick of his career was completed with the best of a terrific trio and came in a virtuoso display. “He represents Real Madrid perfectly and will be a leader for a very long time,” said his manager, Alvaro Arbeloa.

An unhappy, and emergency, right-back earlier in the season, Valverde showed the merits of unleashing him in the final third. “He can play well in every single place,” said Arbeloa. Valverde is one of the great footballing all-rounders of his generation. Here he was, a roving right winger, materialising in the middle, timing his runs superbly, forever the elusive man on the move.

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He left City dumbstruck. “It feels really bad. Now it feels really dark,” said the captain Bernardo Silva. Guardiola added: “A bad result; we cannot deny it.”

There is still a second leg at the Etihad to come but City were eviscerated, and may have been eliminated, by a team featuring plenty of understudies. They had conceded a hat-trick at the Bernabeu last year. But that was to Mbappe, to the man who may be destined for the World Cup scoring records. Not to Valverde. Yet his blend of dynamism and opportunism was stunning.

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Guardiola is aware of the regal power of Real Madrid but he can also testify to their resourcefulness. They usually find a way in this competition, often at his expense. They did so this time with a weakened team.

Perhaps that lured Guardiola into a false sense of security. His own selection looked overly bold, with three wingers behind Erling Haaland. Real had no real striker, Valverde operating further forward than usual. That proved a devastating formula.

City were cut open too easily. Real sat off them, then counterattacked superbly. For the opener, Nico O’Reilly, a scorer in City’s December win at the Bernabeu, misjudged the flight of Thibaut Courtois’s long ball, allowing Valverde to dart in behind him, slip the ball past a sliding Gianluigi Donnarumma and angle a shot into the empty net. Guardiola used to have the goalkeeper who got the assists, in Ederson, but Courtois gave him a taste of his medicine.

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Then Valverde went through his repertoire. His second came courtesy of a surge through the inside-left channel to meet Vinicius Junior’s pass, followed a fine finish with his left foot. The third was the best of the lot, Arda Guler chipping the ball into the box, Valverde volleying it past Marc Guehi with his first touch and beating Donnarumma with his second.

Such solace as City could take came courtesy of their goalkeeper. “Three-nil is better than four-nil,” said Guardiola.

It should have been four. Released by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Vinicius escaped behind City’s defence and was felled by Donnarumma. Yet his spot kick was tame and parried by the Italian. Real may have wished the irresistible Valverde took it instead.

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Donnarumma also saved from Arda Guler in the second half while Vinicius curled a shot wide. City, in a bind between needing a goal and needing not to concede another, occasionally threatened to reduce the deficit.

Antonio Rudiger celebrated a goal-saving interception to stop Erling Haaland tapping in Antoine Semenyo’s cross. Courtois made a magnificent save from an O’Reilly shot that was in part a tackle on Thiago Pitarch, the teenager otherwise excelling in the biggest game of his life.

Yet the fact that the 18-year-old was starting showed how Real’s resources were stretched. For once, they may have been underdogs. “People expected us to get battered tonight,” said Alexander-Arnold.

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And if that was an exaggeration, the rookie of a manager, in Alvaro Arbeloa, was scarcely expected to outmanoeuvre Guardiola. He did, aided by some of the supposedly lesser lights. “I think we have been a team in capital letters,” said Arbeloa.

Guardiola, whose starting 11 looked too attacking, sounded defensive. “Our game was not as bad as the result,” he said. “My feeling about ourselves is we’ve done quite a good job but because the score is 3-0 that is a little bit useless.”

His side have beaten Real 4-0 before in a second leg, but not when they needed to. Now that is the requirement. “We’ll try,” pledged Guardiola.

“We will suffer a lot in Manchester,” said Arbeloa. But probably not as much as Valverde made City suffer in Madrid.

David McDonald has been missing since Wednesday afternoon and water searches are underway.

Water searches have been launched and are underway to find a missing Scots man. David McDonald disappeared earlier this afternoon.

The 51-year-old was last seen around 2.30pm on Wednesday, March 11 in Cardross. He has been described as 5ft 10″ tall, bald with facial hair.

Police Scotland has urged worried members of the public not to take part in search parties looking for David. HM Coastguard are carrying out searches for him at this time.

Cardross, where David was last spotted, is near Loch Lomond and on the Firth of Clyde. It is not known which body of water HM Coastguard are searching for David in at this time.

Inspector Ross Mooney has made a public appeal for information. He said: “Along with his family and friends, we are growing increasingly concerned for the welfare of David.

“We would kindly ask members of the public not to take part in search activities for David at this time. Coordinated searches are being carried out with our partners at HM Coastguard.

“Anyone who knows where David is, should contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 2021 of 11 March, 2026.”

A spokesperson for the force added: “Officers in Argyll and Bute are appealing for information to help trace 51-year-old David McDonald. David was last seen around 2.30pm on Wednesday, 11 March, 2026 in Cardross. He is five foot ten inches tall, bald, with facial hair.”

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If you’re a fan of old school 80s horror and sci-fi movies, you’ll know exactly who John Carpenter is and so you’ll probably also appreciate this Xbox 360 era action throwback.

John Carpenter is one of the most acclaimed directors in the history of genre cinema, having been responsible for the likes of Halloween, Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and They Live. He hasn’t made a new movie in over a decade, but he does still make new music, having previously composed the soundtracks for many of his films. All that is common knowledge, but what you may not know is that he’s also a big fan of video games.

It’s not something he talks about a lot, which may be just as well given he lists Sonic Unleashed, Jak And Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Fallout 76, and Dead Space as amongst his favourites. That may not be a very encouraging list but none of those have anything in common with this new game, by Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 developer Saber Interactive.

Despite Carpenter’s love for gaming, he’s had very little direct involvement with the industry. He consulted on and narrated 2011 horror-themed first person shooter F.E.A.R. 3, but beyond that all he’s done before is the soundtrack for the grossly underappreciated Sentinel Returns, from 1998. Thankfully, he also worked on the soundtrack for Toxic Commando, although we’re dubious as to how much involvement he had with the rest of it.

Beyond the music, the only other thing Carpenter is specifically described as doing for Toxic Commando is the story – although he didn’t write the script (we’re glad to know, because it’s awful). This certainly isn’t the sort of game you’d expect him to make, based on either his filmography or his list of favourite games, but if Carpenter is still pawning noobs online at the age of 78 then more power to him, but we’re not convinced any of this was actually his idea.

There’s a superficial similarity to F.E.A.R., but in most respects this is a fairly standard Left 4 Dead style co-op title. Rather than the tense, slow-paced horror game you might have imagined, Toxic Commando is a surprisingly old-fashioned co-op shooter that if it weren’t for the graphics could easily be mistaken for a late era Xbox 360 game. And that includes the almost monochrome colour scheme and obnoxiously unpleasant soldier types that talk and act like surly teenagers.

The plot involves drilling into the Earth’s core and unleashing a Sludge God that infects a corner of the US with its goop and turns everyone that touches it into a zombie. Your group of four mercenaries become the only ones that can put a stop to it and… that’s about all that matters for the plot, other than they get weedy superpowers along the way.

There’s a decent variety in terms of mission objectives, although a lot of the game boils down to destroying sludge roots and then getting ready for a timed siege. The latter is a lot of fun (as long as you win) as the hordes of zombies are very large – almost on par with Days Gone – and you’ve usually got a range of defences, from electric fences to machinegun turrets, that you can repair with a collected item; although these are frustrating rare and going out of your way to collect them can take a long time.

Everything in Toxic Commando is competent but nothing about it is original or surprising. The gunplay is solid and although you might have expected some more sci-fi style weaponry all the guns are a lot of fun to empty into a sea of the undead. You also have a variety of vehicles you can commandeer, some of which are military and have a turret (that you have to keep topped up with fuel and ammo) and others of which are civilian and can be triggered to explode on a short timer.

All the levels are small open world environments, filled with optional items to try and find and collect, including multiple types of in-game currency, which are used to upgrade your weapons and characters between missions. There are four class types, although any character can be any one of them. Unfortunately, the skill trees are very unexciting, despite the fact that technically you can use magic.

That’s not quite as interesting as it sounds, as the two most fantastical classes just use a forcefield or shoot area of effect projectiles, while the other two are a medic and the ability to use a drone. Any resentment at picking the boring one is soon lost though, when you realise all the abilities only last for a scant few seconds and take an eternity to cooldown again.

Toxic Commando is… okay. It gives every impression of being patched together from – or perhaps it started as a sequel to – Saber’s earlier World War Z game, although it is better than that. It’s still not a paragon of originality but there are some relatively unusual elements and the whole Left 4 Dead clone concept is so old-fashioned now that it’s become a bit of rarity.

It does feel like a game out of time, but the presentation is a lot better than you might expect given the mid-budget price, which helps to mollify all the obvious concerns about its short length, terrible script, and general lack of new ideas. It’s even relatively playable on your own. We wouldn’t advise buying it if that’s the only way you’re going to play it, but while the AI compatriots are useless at handling objectives they are perfectly capable when it comes to fighting zombies.

Our biggest complaint is that the music is the only way you can tell that John Carpenter had anything to do with it, which seems a terrible waste given his movie talents and that he does have an interest in games. On the scale of his movies this isn’t down there with Ghosts Of Mars but it doesn’t even reach the level of In the Mouth of Madness, let alone one of the really good ones.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £34.99
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Developer: Saber Interactive
Release Date: 12th March 2026
Age Rating: 18

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A British married couple have drowned at a popular beach on the New South Wales coast in Australia.

They ran into difficulty while swimming at Shellharbour Beach, about 70 miles (114km) south of Sydney, shortly after 11am (local time) on Wednesday.

The 66-year-old man and 64-year-old woman were pulled from the water by members of the public, who performed CPR, before paramedics arrived.

Despite their efforts, the pair could not be revived and died at the scene, NSW Police said.

The couple had been visiting family in the Illawarra region.

Inspector Luke Geradts said some of the couple’s relatives were with them at the beach.

“This is a timely reminder of the dangers and unpredictability of the ocean,” he said.

“This is a tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family who lost their loved ones today.”

Inspector Geradts praised the actions of two off-duty nurses and a young man who ran to the couple’s rescue, recovering them from the water and giving them the “best chance of survival”.

“Although a tragic outcome today, their efforts are to be commended,” he said.

He said the conditions in the surf had been “rough” and police believe the couple were caught in a rip current.

“We really want to encourage people to swim between the flags… because if you do get into trouble it’s going to give yourself the best chance,” he said.

“Every time we go to one of these incidents, a family has lost a loved one, and that’s what’s so hard about it, for a family to lose a loved one,” he added.

A report on the couple’s death will be prepared for the coroner.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of two British nationals who have died in New South Wales and are in contact with local authorities.”

Deaths from drowning have occurred across Australia‘s coastline over the summer, with 50 recorded in coastal waters between 1 December and 2 March, according to Surf Life Saving Australia.

“But the intensity [we need] I think they find it a four days ago. The players have to live it. I insist many times. Two or three months ago I said, ‘We play today to prove to ourselves this is how you have to play to arrive in the latter stages to compete against good teams’ because we have 60 or 70 per cent of new players this season.

“In November, December, January we had to win those games but we had to play in the way to visualise and see, ‘Oh we can do things, be aware we can do it’. Otherwise it will just be the next step and next season we’ll be back and do it again but once we are here to have to prove ourselves at our best otherwise when you arrive in the semi finals or finals of the Champions League and you are not who you are it is more difficult.

“You can be lucky yes – it’s not 38 games like the Premier League or La Liga where you have to be so consistent – but in this competition sometimes you deserve to go through and it doesn’t happen and other times you play really bad and go through because football is unpredictable sometimes.

“But we have to try to earn the tickets, I want to deserve to be in the next round and I have the feeling to deserve to be in the next round is to be who you are, it’s the only chance.”

After Real, City face West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday evening before the return leg against the Madrid giants next Tuesday.

City then face Arsenal in the League Cup final, Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals and Chelsea and Arsenal in the league, with a Champions League quarter-final potentially also to navigate.

Guardiola believes City have to stay true to themselves if they are to prevail in this period.

“Play better than the opponent,” he said. “In a football game there are a lot of factors today – set-pieces in the Premier League ar an incredible weapon. But play better than the opponent.

“When I was the manager of Barcelona I always had the feeling we were. At Bayern Munich and Manchester City we were never who I think we were supposed to be. That was my feeling at times.

“Always when I come here [to Madrid] or in Munich or at Anfield with Jürgen [Klopp as Liverpool manager] for example when we played Champions League – try to be ourselves and face the opponent and don’t look to much at the consequences.

“If we’re out we’re out – congratulate Madrid and next season try to be back. But at least we were who we are. That’s always my biggest concern in the biggest stages when I arrive in March, April and May in the semi-finals and finals of the biggest completions.

“It’s not always possible, let me be clear. Because the opponent is better so you cannot impose what you want, it’s impossible, but at least try it.

“I think [we reached that with City] the year that we won the final of the Champions League [in 2023] playing not a good final for example [against Inter Milan].

“Once you arrive two or three times [in a final] you will be better, you need to experience that, it’s difficult to arrive the first time and win it. But that team suffered experiences in the past that helped.

“Losing here [in Madrid] in the last minute, playing good against Tottenham and being out in the quarter finals, in many games where we were outstanding and went out. It’s something you have to live. But now there are a lot of players who didn’t experience that so we will see how we react and how we behave.”

Jamie Carragher believes Chelsea will not win another Premier League or Champions League until they sign a new goalkeeper after their 5-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

In a thrilling game at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night, Chelsea pulled back PSG on two occasions before the Champions League holders scored three late goals to give Liam Rosenior’s side a mountain to climb in the return leg at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.

Filip Jorgensen started in goal ahead of Robert Sanchez but the 23-year-old was at fault for PSG’s third as his pass was intercepted before Vitinha produced an excellent lob to put Luis Enrique’s side in front.

Speaking after Chelsea’s 5-2 defeat to PSG, Carragher praised Rosenior for his tactical approach but believes his side will be unable to challenge for silverware until a new goalkeeper is brought to Stamford Bridge.

‘It was a brilliant game, I think the best game certainly I’ve seen in the Champions League this season,’ Carragher told CBS Sports.

‘Chelsea didn’t deserve to lose 5-2 but they’ve only got themselves to blame for that.

‘I’ve been critical of Chelsea for a long time, but I’m being deadly serious, they can’t go any further until they sort the goalkeeping issue out. I’ve been saying this consistently.

‘The new ownership have come in and spent absolute billions and right now they’ve got some great players in the team and I think in these early stages Liam Rosenior has been brilliant, I thought Rosenior as a manager tonight, looking at how he set the team up, caused PSG real problems, they didn’t deserve to lose as in the way the game was set up and how they played.

‘But big mistakes cost them at centre-back and goalkeeper and that has been an issue and will continue to be an issue for any Chelsea manager going forward when they’re trying to win the Premier League and Champions League because they’re a million miles off it.

‘That’s why they lost tonight, not because they haven’t got great attacking players or the manager knows what he’s doing, tactically they were fantastic tonight. They were let down by a mistake from the goalkeeper at 2-2 and then the game just completely unravelled and now all of a sudden it looks like they’ve got no chance of going through.’

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A significant amount of drugs were found at his home as well as an extendable baton which is considered an offensive weapon

A drug dealer was found with messages on his phone from a customer who complained about the quailty of the cocaine he sold him. When police raided the dealer’s home he was found in possession of more than £1,000 of cocaine and more than £5,000 worth of cannabis.

Cameron Cummings, 28, was raided by police at his home in Cardiff on January 2 and was arrested. During a search of his home officers recovered various amounts of cocaine, cannabis and cannabis resin.

A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Wednesday heard police seized drug paraphernalia including cannabis cuttings, scales, snap bags and various mobile phones. Also discovered was an extendable baton which is considered an offensive weapon.

Messages on one of the phones revealed Cummings had been running a drugs line. One of the messages received was from a customer complaining about the quality of the cocaine he had purchased and referred to it being “bashed” – slang for adulterated.

The defendant responded by saying he used creatine to “bash” the drugs, but the customer said the cocaine was “burning”. Cummings offered the customer a “free fat one” on the next occasion.

Other messages made reference to amounts of drugs including a “T-shirt” and a “leg”. Cummings also appeared to be directing others, with one message reading: “Hop on thing and do a few bits.”

Reference was also made to confidential apps in order for the defendant to message people without being detected by the authorities.

During his interview he told officers he bought drugs in bulk as he and his family were heavy users. Prosecutor Sol Hartley said: “The prosecution say that was farcical.”

In total police seized 30g of cocaine worth more than £1,000, more than 1kg of cannabis worth more than £5,000, and £3,635 in cash.

Cummings, of Stafford Road, Grangetown, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs and possession of an offensive weapon. The court heard he has no previous convictions.

In mitigation Elin Morgan said her client built up a drug debt which made him turn to dealing. The barrister said the defendant has a young child who he saw daily before he was remanded into custody.

Recorder David Harris sentenced Cummings to a total of 36 months imprisonment. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here

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In the lettings market, tenant demand was broadly stable over the three months to February, but landlord instructions were “firmly negative”, pointing to a shortage of rental homes. Professionals are expecting rents to rise overall in the next three months, the report found.

The 52-year-old has confirmed he will no longer be a judge on the BBC cooking competition after appearing on its latest series.

In a statement on Instagram on Wednesday, Tebbutt said: “A lot of lovely people have contacted me about not doing the next series of MasterChef: The Professionals.

“I was only ever doing one series and I loved judging on it and will continue working with MasterChef.”

Tebbutt joined chefs Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti for the cooking competition’s 18th series, which aired earlier this year.

In September, it was revealed he would be taking part in the series and at the time, Tebbutt said working with Wareing and Galetti was “an absolute honour”.

He is best known as the host of BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen, and has also presented Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped and Drop Down Menu.

Tebbutt replaced the former face of the show, Gregg Wallace, who was sacked following a series of misconduct allegations relating to his time on the amateur series, MasterChef.

Wallace, who also co-presented the spin-off Celebrity MasterChef, issued an apology saying he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate”, in the wake of an investigation which upheld 45 out of 83 allegations against him.

The BBC has been contacted for comment.

“Each day we see how international events can impact also on our domestic ambitions and daily lives, as well as on global security.    “Over the course of the summit, we will discuss how we can strengthen competitiveness and resilience and reduce the cost of living, harness the potential of our shared seas while protecting our marine environment, deliver essential infrastructure at pace and scale, and ensure energy affordability and energy security across Ireland and the UK.”