Against Roma, José Mourinho brought in Arda Güler in the 58th minute of the game. Before the substitution, Real Madrid lacked any sort of progression and chance creation. Immediately upon entering the field, Real Madrid’s performance improved. He and Bernardo Silva engineered every buildup and progression sequence due to their mobility and ability to break lines via carrying or passing. Moreover, Güler was the reason behind Real Madrid’s three goals from corners that secured the three points against
Gasperini’s side. The perfect weight, height, and precision with which he delivered the corners made the difference.
The game after Roma, José Mourinho put Arda Güler alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni to dictate Real Madrid’s play from deeper areas against Sevilla. Güler was up to par, as well.
Against Sevilla’s low block, he displayed his deceptive character, hiding his real intentions to manipulate the opponents. He played with disguise, faking his actions through his body orientation to hint that he is trying to find Diomandé (below). However, he wants Vargas to shift across so Mbappé and Bellingham overload Agoumé in the left half-space. Once Vargas steps across, Güler slides an unpredictable pass between Fofana and Fernandez to Mbappé, allowing Real Madrid to move the ball to the right side in a 2v2 situation:
Breaking lines and putting teammates in quality situations must be a fun game for Arda Güler, especially when there is little pressure around him. In this example, Real Madrid gathers the play again on the left side, working the ball out via short passes to the right, where there is the 2v2 situation. Bellingham pins the left-back inside, whereas Valverde proceeds with an out-to-in run behind the left winger:
Güler, with his less preferred foot, slides a channel ball to Valverde, releasing him to square the pass into Mbappé, who arrives late at the box.
In the Champions League, Mourinho used Güler in a different position. The Turk hugged the touchline on the right on paper. In reality, he synced with Valverde and Bernardo Silva and Mbappé when the latter joined the right side. This time, his main mission was to contribute to cracking Leipzig in areas close to the penalty box.
In the middle third, when he remained deeper, Federico Valverde drew Nusa forward. El Aynaoui had to block off the passing lane into Bernardo Silva. That put Arda Güler in a 1v1 situation against David Raum near the touchline. The former went against the latter’s momentum and skipped past him, noticing Mbappé’s run behind Leipzig’s center-backs. However, Güler’s trivela pass wasn’t accurate enough, so Lukeba easily intercepted it.
At the start of the second half, Kylian Mbappé kept peeling off wide on the right side. Here, Mbappé drops deeper, pulling David Raum forward, with Valverde anchoring Nusa. Ahead, Güler hugs the touchlines. In the meantime, Real Madrid’s midfielders remain close to the defenders, which drags Leipzig midfielders forward and stretches the space between the lines. That saw Güler isolated against Lukeba. On this occasion, Güler keeps carrying the ball upward and diagonally pushing Lukeba rearward, waiting for Valverde to appear. The latter overlaps the former down the right half-space, getting into a shooting position around the six-yard box. However, the goalkeeper heroically saves Valverde’s shot.
In the final third, Real Madrid tended to create chances via wide combinations. Bernardo Silva was tasked with pinning the center-backs, which permitted Mbappé to shuffle across. Leipzig found it hard to deal with Real Madrid’s wide rotations. Here, Arda Güler passes the ball to Mbappé and darts behind Nusa and Raum. Güler attacks the byline freely as El Aynaoui doesn’t follow him and gets near the six-yard box after. Bernardo Silva moves toward the front-post zone, whereas Carreras dashes to the far post area. Bellingham, Valverde, and Mbappé arrive late at the box, waving for Güler to cut the ball back. However, he opts to play it into traffic.
According to Wyscout, Güler completed three out of six dribbles, made three progressive runs (a continuous ball control by one player attempting to draw the team significantly closer to the opponent goal), and completed three passes into the final third.
Güler’s deeper role contributes to getting him into goal-scoring positions. He takes advantage of the pushback occurring ahead, as the forward players’ movements drag the opposition backline toward the goal. As a result, the space in front of the defensive line becomes available for him to arrive late and take accurate shots, as he has time and space to do so:
Here, Real Madrid relies on wide combinations and rotations to escape Leipzig high press. With a give-and-go, Valverde feeds the dropping Güler and overlaps him, accessing the space behind Raum. Seiwald’s jump toward Bernardo Silva is late, which allows the Portuguese to punch the ball forward to Valverde. Güler and Valverde interchange passes as they move upfield. As they arrive at the box, Vinicius Junior’s run drags Leipzig center-backs deeper, creating space for Arda Güler to come from behind and take the shot. However, his delivery was comfortably picked up by the goalkeeper:
Just before Bernardo Silva’s goal against Leipzig, Arda Güler demonstrated a high level of penalty box movement. After getting into settled possession, he narrows inside, leaving room for Valverde to push on. In the center, Bernardo Silva heads to the gap between Orban and Lukeba. El Aynaoui follows the Portuguese midfielder, which opens up a diagonal passing lane between Güler and Bellingham. Mbappé links Güler and Valverde, setting him up around the six-yard box. In the meantime, Arda Güler sneaks stealthily backward as Leipzig’s backline keeps retreating, which makes him operate in a free area at the edge of the six-yard box. Valverde cuts the ball back to Güler, whose shot is saved by the goalkeeper. Bernardo Silva jumps onto the loose ball to open the score:
Seven minutes into the second half against Leipzig, from a wide triangle on the left formed of Carreras, Vinicius Junior, and Bellingham, the trio outnumbered Baku and Gruda. A give-and-go between Bellingham and Vinicius set the English midfielder around the byline. Bellingham pinged the cross toward the far post. Arda Güler’s diagonal run toward the front post zone dragged Raum with him and vacated the far post zone for Mbappé to collect Bellingham’s cross. Güler’s position allowed him to turn Mbappé’s head home:
Once, José Mourinho stated that Arda Güler’s path shares similarities with Luka Modric, as the Croatian midfielder started his career playing in advanced areas as a playmaker and progressively turned into a prolific and one of the best central midfielders in history. Arda Güler is on the path of becoming what Marcelo Bielsa called onece: “The hardest player to find in football is the eight. I named it ‘the Modric’. This position demands a player with the defensive skills of a number six and the offensive prowess of a number ten. Modric is a phenomenal player who fully understands the game and has the ability to defend, the skills to attack and understanding the game in both directions.”
