Real Madrid may hope that all the chaos around Turkey vs Georgia, the sleeper hit of Euro 2024 , serves as the perfect distraction. Because when people talk about Tuesday’s game, their minds may first drift to the drenching of fans as storms swirled over the BVB Stadium. They may then ponder the violence between opposing fans , which threatened to overshadow the Group F fixture.
They may even focus on the pressure-cooker atmosphere in the stadium, the flares, drums and whistles , before they consider the action on the pitch. And even then, there were the many near misses, the improbability of Mert Muldur’s volleyed opener, the euphoria of Georges Mikautadze’s equaliser for Georgia, and the finality of Kerem Aktarkoglu’s finish on the counter. All of which surrounded Real Madrid’s semi-secret, which got out on the 65-minute mark.
It was in that moment that Arda Guler, afforded time and space that would prove fatal to Georgia, arched a shot into the top corner to restore their lead – ultimately setting up victory against the Euros debutants. Guler is still just 19, and since joining Real Madrid from Fenerbahce last summer, he has made 12 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals in that time. The midfielder, typically plays centrally and advanced, but he can also play further back and out right, where he was deployed on the right wing by Vincenzo Montella against Georgia.
It was from there that he drifted inside and scored his second international goal, on .
