Arda Güler scored and set up a goal at the Mestalla on Saturday, 7 November, as Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 and drew level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga.
He did it without a fixed starting position. Madrid Universal reported on Sunday, citing Spanish daily Marca, that Mourinho has decided to stop pinning Güler to the right flank and instead let him find pockets of space wherever the game opens up, with the rest of the attack told to adapt their movements to keep Real Madrid’s shape intact.
Valverde moves, Mbappé finishes
Federico Valverde is one of the players most affected by the change, sliding wider or dropping into the back line whenever Güler drifts inside. At the Mestalla, Valverde scored the first goal on 28 minutes, Güler added the second eight minutes later from a Jude Bellingham cutback, and Kylian Mbappé sealed the match in the 75th minute. It stretched Mbappé’s scoring run to seven matches in a row, and Real Madrid’s eighth straight win.
Mourinho has only spoken about it in glancing terms. Asked before the Champions League tie with RB Leipzig on 21 October which positions suited Güler and Valverde best, the Portuguese coach gave reporters a single line.
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“The best position for them is on the pitch.”
The night Madrid missed him
Mourinho rested Güler for the Champions League trip to AEK Athens on 4 November, leaving him out of the squad entirely alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni. Yan Diomande took the right-sided attacking role for the night. Madrid came through, but the performance made the case for how central the Turkey international has become to the way they move the ball.
A Modric comparison, not a Modric copy
Mourinho also framed Güler’s future at Real Madrid in longer terms during pre-season, telling Spanish television show El Chiringuito that he expected a career arc similar to Luka Modric or Bernardo Silva.
“I really like Arda Güler. I think something similar to what happened to Modric or Bernardo Silva will happen to him.”
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For now, the current experiment is more immediate: a 21-year-old creator given license to pick his own spot, with teammates told to move so he keeps getting the ball. After the international break, Madrid host Celta Vigo in La Liga on Sunday 22 November.
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