Real Madrid desperately needed to take all three points to arrive at Montjuic with a chance to keep fighting for the LaLiga title. And, despite what seemed like it would be a quiet afternoon at the Santiago Bernabéu, they ended up defeating Celta de Vigo thanks to a standout performance from Arda Güler, who used the opportunity to stake his claim for a spot in El Clásico against Barcelona next week.

Dramatic turnaround in Güler’s situation at Real Madrid

In just a few weeks, Arda Güler’s situation has changed dramatically. Alongside Edrick, and excluding a Jesús Vallejo who is invisible to Carlo Ancelotti, Güler was the Real Madrid player with the fewest minutes played this season. In fact, he hadn’t played a single minute in any of the three Champions League knockout rounds that Real Madrid has faced this season—against Manchester City, Atlético de Madrid, and Arsenal.

Although he has always stated he feels extremely comfortable at Real Madrid, the first rumors had already begun to surface suggesting Arda Güler could leave the Santiago Bernabéu next season to make room for the return of Nico Paz, who is shining at Como. However, everything changed during Real Madrid’s visit to Getafe, where Güler started, scored the winning goal, and most importantly, showed that he could solve many of the problems Real Madrid has been facing this season.

Ancelotti says Güler could start against Barcelona

That performance wasn’t enough for him to start in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona… but it did earn him enough trust to change the match when he came off the bench and assisted Tchouaméni for the equalizer. A week later, taking advantage of Rodrygo's absence due to illness, he started against Celta and led Real Madrid to victory with a beautiful goal to open the scoring and later provided another assist to Kylian Mbappé for the third goal.

That performance, according to Carlo Ancelotti himself, earned him the chance to potentially start next week against Barcelona in a match that could decide Real Madrid’s season. According to information from 'MARCA', unless something changes during the week, Arda Güler will start against Barcelona and have the chance to prove he can be an important part of Real Madrid’s future.