19-year-old gem impresses as he gets a surprise start for Real Madrid – Analysis | OneFootball

Real Madrid faced Leganes last night as they returned from the November international break. The Merengues got a comfortable 3-0 victory in this game, courtesy of goals from Kylian Mbappe, Federico Valverde, and Jude Bellingham.

Although he did not get on the scoresheet, another player who shone quite brightly on the night was the Turkish youngster Arda Guler, who got a surprise start in this game.

Despite finishing the last season in a very encouraging fashion, Guler has not had the prominence that was expected of him this season. Carlo Ancelotti had not used him in the crucial games against Barcelona and AC Milan, although he did make an appearance from the bench in the game against Osasuna.

He was quite impressive with his national team as he left Real Madrid to play for the Turks in the last international break.

However, another Real Madrid player, Brahim Diaz, had an even better international break, as he scored 5 goals in 2 games for his Morocco international side.

This situation, coupled with the fact that Rodrygo had suffered an injury in the game against Osasuna, made Brahim the favourite to start along with Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe in the forward line for the game against Leganes.

However, Carlo Ancelotti surprised most of the fans as he gave Guler a start last night, and Guler took full advantage of this situation.

According to Sofascore, the Turk remained for 75 minutes on the pitch and got 60 touches on the ball. He remained in the spotlight with his dribbling, completing all of his 4 attempted dribbles, and with his shots on target, as he took 5 shots in total, 3 of which were on target, 1 was off-target, and another 1 was blocked. Thus, he was somewhat unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.

In addition to these aspects, he was also quite good with his passing, as he completed 38 of his 41 passes, thus recording a 93% success rate in this regard.

He also gave two key passes, and even got 1 assist to his name, though it must be admitted that he was lucky in this regard as he had only laid off the ball for Federico Valverde from a free-kick that ended up being Real Madrid’s second goal on the night.

There were some weaknesses in his game on display as well, as had only 1 of his 4 crosses accurate, and his only 1 attempted long ball was not accurate.

Still, this was a very encouraging performance from Guler, especially keeping in view the low level of prominence he has enjoyed this season. Hopefully, he will be able to continue getting chances in the coming days and building on this performance, especially as matches are coming thick and fast for Real Madrid in the next few weeks.