Legendary Thierry Henry has questioned the spirit behind Spanish side Real Madrid’s jersey following their 3-0 triumph over Manchester City in the Champions League.

The cagey encounter took place on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Spain, where the 15-time champions showcased their class with a commanding result despite a squad depleted by injuries.

Uruguayan midfielder Fede Valverde’s hat-trick sealed an emphatic victory in the first leg, something most people never expected.

Analysis of Semenyo’s performance against Real Madrid

Ahead of the game, there was a general impression that the Premier League giants would smash Los Blancos, but that expectation ended in disappointment.

Reacting to the result, Henry admitted that even though he is a staunch Barcelona fan, he believes Real Madrid deserves credit for the impressive performance that surprised many.

The former Arsenal striker was full of praise for hat-trick hero Fede Valverde, commending both his brilliant display and the collective effort shown by the team.

“I'm very Barcelona. But you have to give Madrid a lot of credit. Nobody saw that coming. And nobody saw Valverde scoring a hat-trick. Anyone that said Valverde was going to score a hat-trick is a liar. But I want to talk about the team effort they had today. That's how you win games. Everybody was defending for everybody. And Valverde will get his reward. Because he's been a great servant for the club, and scoring three goals for him doesn’t happen, or never happened actually,” Henry said while speaking on CBS Sports Golazo.

The former Barcelona striker then joked about the morale and spirit in the Madrid jersey, suggesting its magical aura at the Bernabéu might even help him regain his hair if he wore it.

“I don't know what they put in that jersey. I really don't. It's obviously a joke what I'm gonna say because I don't want to wear that jersey. But maybe if I put it on, it might help me get my hair back. They put something in it. When they play in the Champions League, I don't know what it is."

"When they put that shirt on, I said at the beginning of the game that it's a heavy shirt, and then you have to battle against teams that have won in that competition. You have to give them credit because that’s the team right now in the first leg where I didn’t expect that from Real Madrid,” he said sarcastically.

Watch the video below:

"I don't know what they put in that jersey... maybe if I put it on it might help me to get my hair back." 😭

Titi knows the Real Madrid jersey has some magic 🪄 pic.twitter.com/OsCvbt28W4

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 11, 2026