{"id":44688,"date":"2026-03-05T16:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=44688"},"modified":"2026-03-05T16:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:30:39","slug":"guler-struggles-to-fill-bellingham-void-as-madrids-title-hope-slipping-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/football\/la-liga\/guler-struggles-to-fill-bellingham-void-as-madrids-title-hope-slipping-away\/","title":{"rendered":"G\u00fcler struggles to fill Bellingham void as Madrid\u2019s title hope slipping away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"371\" data-end=\"608\">The absence of <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Jude Bellingham<\/span><\/span> has left a noticeable void in the heart of <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Real Madrid<\/span><\/span>\u2019s midfield, and so far, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Arda G\u00fcler<\/span><\/span> has struggled to step into the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"610\" data-end=\"1021\">The Turkish youngster has been handed increased opportunities since Bellingham\u2019s injury, but the numbers highlight a difficult start. In six appearances during this period, G\u00fcler has yet to register a goal or an assist. While the young one remains one of Madrid\u2019s most exciting young talents, his inability to deliver end product has raised questions about whether he is ready to shoulder such responsibility.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1023\" data-end=\"1413\">Madrid\u2019s struggles go beyond individual performances. Alvaro Arbeloa\u2019s side has been going through a difficult spell, dropping crucial points in <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">La Liga<\/span><\/span> and suffering setbacks in the <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">UEFA Champions League<\/span><\/span>. The dip in form has opened the door for rivals <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">FC Barcelona<\/span><\/span> to strengthen their push in the domestic title race.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1415\" data-end=\"1775\">With Bellingham previously playing a decisive role in Madrid\u2019s attacking output, his absence has exposed the team\u2019s creative limitations. G\u00fcler, known for his technical quality and vision, was expected to inject fresh energy into the midfield. However, adapting to Madrid\u2019s high expectations and the tactical demands of Spanish football has proven challenging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The absence of Jude Bellingham has left a noticeable void in the heart of Real Madrid\u2019s midfield, and so far,\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":37195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4651],"tags":[4517,3694,3686,1823,4142,3467,3919,266],"class_list":["post-44688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-liga","tag-alvaro-arbeloa","tag-arda-guler","tag-david-ornstein","tag-fabrizio-romano","tag-guler","tag-jude-bellingham","tag-la-liga","tag-real-madrid"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44689,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44688\/revisions\/44689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}