Arda Güler is having his big breakout for Real Madrid

While I suspect many of our readers will be tuning into one of the three English teams during Champions League on Wednesday, the big headline matchup is undoubtedly between Real Madrid and Juventus. And if you haven’t got a chance to watch Arda Güler this season, I highly recommend checking out Los Blancos.

Please enjoy a sizzle reel with some classic Youtube highlights EDM.

Güler was a solid contributor for Real Madrid last season, but was mostly a bench player, and played almost all of his minutes on the right wing. This season, through some combination of Xabi Alonso having fresh ideas and Jude Bellingham starting the season injured, Güler has moved into a central attacking midfield role at the heart of Madrid’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

The results have been some pretty insane production, in all respects. He looks a lot more comfortable picking the ball up in the center of the pitch, rather than getting it wide and cutting inside, and it’s leading to much better passing and shooting outcomes.

This is “best No. 10 in the world” level production, if he can keep it up.

Güler getting installed as the starting No. 10 has also come alongside some much improved shooting production for Real Madrid’s center forward, Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman spent much of his first season in Madrid not quite understanding how he could best work with Vinicius Jr., with the two players often trying to occupy the same spaces. Carlo Ancelotti changed formations several times in an attempt to get all of his best attackers on the pitch in a way that made sense, and it never quite clicked.

This season, Mbappe is looking a lot more confident playing as a classic center forward and giving Vini more space to operate on the left. And a big part of that might be the passes from Güler that he’s getting to run onto. They appear to have some excellent chemistry, with all 4 of Güler’s La Liga assists this season going to Mbappe.

Güler has 4 additional key passes to Mbappe this season. Those 8 key passes from Güler to Mbappe have been good for an outstanding 0.21 xG per shot.

It’s possible that Güler goes back to playing quite a bit of his minutes on the right wing now that Jude Bellingham is healthy. But they’re two very different players, and Madrid is clearly benefiting from having a No. 10 who is more of a passer. Bellingham is an elite goal threat, dribbler, and presser, but he’s never been much of a passer, posting mediocre xG assisted and Pass OBV numbers for an attacking midfielder.

Right now, Madrid is playing enough games across multiple competitions that both will get plenty of opportunities. But I expect to see Güler against Juventus, and if he continues to assist at the same clip, he’s going to be irreplaceable in the lineup.

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