Even though Real Madrid lost 1-0 to Real Betis on Matchday 4 of the 2026/27 La Liga season this past Friday night, Arda Guler was the Man of the Match, adding to his incredible tally of 12 key passes in his first two starts in wins over Espanyol and Real Sociedad with another whopping seven key passes in a single game despite Madrid losing 1-0 at the Benito Villamarin.
Guler was untouchable again, and he deserved at least two assists for the quality passes he was playing to all the attacking players at Real Madrid. The Turkish inverted right winger has become such a deadly playmaker in this fitting role under Jose Mourinho, and Ivorian international Yan Diomande may never even get a chance to become a starter for the Merengues this season with how brilliant Guler has been.
Kylian Mbappe really should have scored multiple times for Real Madrid against Real Betis with the dishes Arda Guler was serving him again. Guler has been on a different level since starting the season, and on a per 90 minute basis, he is averaging 10 chances created, which dwarfs everyone else in La Liga through the first four Matchdays.
Arda Guler is playing in a much more difficult context
Before the season, people were hyping up Guler as the next Mesut Ozil under Jose Mourinho, and while most people saw that as hyperbolic given Ozil was so great for Madrid that he was putting up 30 assists in a season, the reality is that Guler's chances created per game pace thus far is more than double Ozil's in his heyday.
Ozil was his own special player and Guler may never be able to fully replicate what he did in world football, but there has to be a deep appreciation for what he is doing right now for Real Madrid. The big thing with Guler is that in the modern game, he is a perfect playmaker, and he is putting up his numbers right now with Kylian Mbappe and not Cristiano Ronaldo, which is a huge advantage that Ozil got to benefit from in his prime.
Guler is also making plays and generating 10 chances created per 90 minutes for Real Madrid this season as a playmaker off the right wing and not a pure No. 10 every week. And he is doing it on a Real Madrid team that can't even beat Real Betis despite all of his help, whereas Ozil played with a much more loaded roster; the only other Madrid player besides Guler playing at an elite level right now is Jude Bellingham. For those reasons, what Guler is doing for Jose Mourinho right now might be even more impressive than peak Mesut Ozil, considering the context.
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