Güler's Moment of Brilliance Decides Tight Contest
One moment made all the difference. Arda Güler, in just his third top-flight start for Real Madrid, stepped up with the kind of composure usually seen in seasoned midfielders. Around the 27th minute, he ghosted into space, latched on to a smart layoff, and cooly tucked the ball past Getafe’s onrushing keeper. The goal was enough to sink a stubborn Getafe side and keep Madrid’s title ambitions burning hot.
The match itself was far from free-flowing, with Getafe happy to clog passing lanes and disrupt Madrid’s rhythm. But unlike earlier in the season, Carlo Ancelotti’s squad rarely looked rattled. The defense, marshaled by Antonio Rüdiger and Dani Carvajal, cut out danger before it could trouble Andriy Lunin, who barely had to break a sweat for his third clean sheet on the bounce. When Getafe did manage a rare foray forward, Ferland Mendy and Eduardo Camavinga put in the hard yards to keep things tidy at the back.
Madrid's Defensive Steel and Güler’s Rise
Real Madrid have now gone three league games without conceding—a stat that says plenty about the switch in mindset. Ancelotti’s famous eyebrow might have twitched when Getafe pressed late in the second half, but the back line’s organization never wobbled. Getafe’s midfield, led by Nemanja Maksimović, poked and prodded but couldn’t crack the code. Madrid have let in just one goal in their last five league matches, and that’s a big shift from some fraught moments earlier in the campaign.
If the defense is providing the base, Güler is injecting the spark. The young Turkish playmaker, still only 20, is looking more comfortable every week. Pundits are already comparing his smooth ball control and vision to Madrid’s established stars. Against Getafe, he wasn’t just a scorer—he started moves from deep, broke lines with a sharp pass, and looked unafraid to demand the ball under pressure.
This win arrived just days after Madrid’s dramatic Copa del Rey semi-final triumph over Real Sociedad. The squad could’ve shown fatigue, but instead, they controlled territory and calmly saw out the result. Ancelotti rotated a few regulars with the cup final ahead, but Madrid never surrendered control.
- LaLiga title hopes intact after grinding out three points
- Three consecutive league clean sheets for the first time in months
- Güler’s influence in attack becomes hard to ignore
With fixtures coming thick and fast and the LaLiga title race as tight as ever, Madrid’s habit of winning even when not at their best might be their biggest advantage. Ancelotti’s team has learned how to get the job done, no matter how scrappy it gets. Now, all eyes turn to the Copa del Rey final—and Madrid fans will hope Güler’s fairytale run continues there as well.
Ed Thompson
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