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Real Madrid End-of-Season Player Ratings: Guler’s 8/10 sets the standard in midfield
The one department that Real Madrid entered the 2025/26 season with the fewest changes in was the midfield, as the general impression was that the big names in the department would be enough to sail through the season.
Xabi Alonso pushed for the signing of a new midfielder last summer, but the club refused to entertain the idea and convinced him that the players in the squad were all game-changers and capable of wonders together.
Rather early into the season, however, it became clear that the midfield was the Achilles’ heel for the team and that the lack of a creative and controlling presence was going to cost them dearly.
Throughout the season, both Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa attempted to control the situation with tactical variations, but Los Blancos remained vulnerable and exposed through the middle until the very end. All in all, it was one of the primary reasons for their undoing.
Madrid Universal brings you the season ratings of Real Madrid’s midfielders from the 2025/26 season.
Aurelien Tchouameni
Aurelien Tchouameni was one of the more stable pieces in Real Madrid’s puzzle in the 2025/26 campaign, although that also meant he was among the more overworked and overburdened players.
The Frenchman was forced to take up a highly exhausting role of being the fulcrum of the midfield week in and week out with barely any replacement available in the squad.
His performances lived up to the expectations more often than not despite a relatively fractured relationship with the fans. In the big games, however, he did struggle at times as did the rest of the team.
Tchouameni was among the more heavily used players in the season with a staggering 46 appearances in total and his defensive numbers were impressive. The team’s lack of identity, however, rubbed off as his failure, and his efforts in midfield went in vain.
In the end, his campaign was marred by a highly publicised fight with Federico Valverde behind the scenes, one which has left his future in relative uncertainty.
Season rating: 7
Federico Valverde
Valverde was Real Madrid’s on-field captain for most of the season with Dani Carvajal not having a major role, and he was tasked with filling the void of leadership left by the departure of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
His season included some very fiery highs but also equally disastrous lows, and his performances had a direct impact on the team’s showing across competitions.
Alonso’s tenure largely hindered his comfort as he refused to keep filling in at right-back and moving out of his comfort zone. Eventually, the tensions boiled down to internal fights and clashes that stole the headlines.
Under Arbeloa, Valverde had a scintillating attacking output and made himself comfortable in the final third. His highest point in the season was his hat-trick against Manchester City which killed off the tie.
Season rating: 7
Dani Ceballos
Real Madrid struggled in midfield all season through injuries, tactical struggles, and internal conflicts – all of which played a part.
Despite all those hindrances and limitations, Dani Ceballos could not earn opportunities or a starting berth for himself – and that quite sums up the seemingly non-existent season he had.
He was never relied on regularly by Alonso and Arbeloa, both of whom did not see him as a solution to the team’s lack of creativity in midfield. He finished the season with just four starts and 16 La Liga appearances all season.
Season rating: 3.5
Arda Guler
The 2025/26 campaign was Arda Guler’s proper breakthrough season after being in the shadows for a long time, and the youngster did well to soak in the pressure and deliver more often than not.
He transitioned from a fringe player to a reliable and consistent performer and was excellent in the initial part of the season where Jude Bellingham was out injured. However, the Englishman’s return saw him pushed out of his niche and productivity tapered.
Guler was one of the team’s best players against Bayern Munich and broke several records including the team’s fastest goal in UCL history and La Liga’s longest range goal ever. He has also been nominated for the league’s Best U23 Player of the Season award.
While most of the takeaways from his season were positive, there was a sense that he lacked the physicality needed for the big games at times – an aspect he will look to work on ahead of next season.
Season rating: 8
Jude Bellingham
Forced to undergo surgery after the FIFA Club World Cup, Jude Bellingham missed the opening part of Real Madrid’s season and spent the rest of the season looking for his best version which simply never arrived.
He had two major injury windows, one from July to September and one in February 2026. Unfortunately for him, the second injury arrived just around the time when he was finding his best moment in the season and pressed the restart button.
By the time the business end of the campaign arrived, Bellingham looked fatigued by the minutes and the burden of being a tactical misfit and thus looked like a ghost of his former self.
Season rating: 6.5
Eduardo Camavinga
The 2025/26 campaign, quite clearly, was the lowest point in Eduardo Camavinga’s career so far as he enjoyed barely any prominence, minutes, or trust from the managers.
Plagued by persistent injuries, drops in form, and tactical issues, the player completely lost out on his starter tag at the club and was reduced to a bench warmer.
Fitness issues hindered him at the beginning of his campaign and he missed the team’s opening games of the season entirely. Once he returned, he found no direct place in midfield and did not look comfortable playing out of position as well.
When handed the chance in big games like the clashes against Bayern Munich, he once again disappointed and even earned a red card that derailed the team completely. Eventually, his season saw him dropped from the World Cup squad as well.
Season rating: 4.5
Thiago Pitarch
In a season that had few highs, Thiago Pitarch’s rise was one of the few silver linings in Real Madrid’s campaign. For an academy graduate thrown into the deep end, the youngster held his own brilliantly.
At a time when the seniors in the dressing room seemingly collapsed in midfield, Pitarch brought some stability and order to the department. He began as a prospect splitting minutes between Castilla and senior side, but eventually made the full transition.
From his appearance against Benfica in February to the final game of the season where he gave two assists, his development was fabulous to follow.
At the end of the campaign, however, his prominence slightly tapered owing to reported pressure from the administration to hand big-name prominence over academy stars.
Season rating: 7.5
Not many saw the result that unfolded at the Estadio de La Cartuja last night coming, as Real Madrid slipped to a shocking 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
Jose Mourinho made a couple of changes to his team on the night but fielded one of his strongest possible XIs, acknowledging the difficulty of the challenge Los Verdiblancos posed.
The first half ended scoreless, with the visitors completely dominating the flow of the game but failing to convert their chances. After the break, they only upped the ante and pressed higher to break the deadlock.
Almost against the flow of the game, however, Troy Parrott fired from very close range to put his side ahead through a set-piece, and Real Madrid had just ten minutes to find two goals.
A hard-fought ten minutes, a disallowed goal and a missed penalty later, however, the full-time whistle blew with Real Madrid staring at defeat.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Betis 1-0 Real Madrid.
A first loss under Mourinho
Real Madrid’s lacunae were visible in the team’s first away clash of the new season when they took home a last-gasp win over Espanyol.
They looked comfortable at home, but it has always been clear that they are not invincible.
A first defeat of the season, in that sense, was always just a matter of time as the team continued to develop under Jose Mourinho, and that setback appeared early in the campaign last night.
The defeat to Real Betis at the Estadio de La Cartuja continued Real Madrid’s trend of struggling away from home and exposed the team’s lacunae to the world once more.
A lot can be said about the refereeing and how the result was harsh on Los Blancos, but the fact of the matter remains that a team with the talent that Real Madrid possesses simply has no excuses to look so blunt in attack.
Jose Mourinho’s men created chances in abundance on the night, but none of the team’s star forwards could effectively finish a single chance.
Kylian Mbappe had a rare off-night and even Jude Bellingham did not score from any of his three shots. Vinicius Jr., Arda Guler, Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi all had their chances, but all failed to bury even a single chance.
In the end, it can be called misfortune, but for Real Madrid to have made nothing of an xG of 3.46 and to miss a penalty in the same game has to be dug into. The players did not play poorly, but the lack of a lethal finish came back to bite them.
Mbappe’s controversial penalty
Real Madrid had a massive chance to salvage something from the frustrating night in the 94th minute when the referee awarded the visitors a penalty that would see them return to level terms.
Kylian Mbappe stepped up, and it was taken for granted that the Frenchman would score as usual. Astonishingly, however, Mbappe did not find the back of the net.
For starters, it must be said that the Merengues have no one to blame but themselves for the defeat to Real Betis, for they could not have had a clearer chance to steal at least a point away from the night.
However, there was a clear element of controversy in the spot-kick that must not be misinterpreted as an excuse.
At the precise moment that Mbappe struck the ball from the spot, a Real Betis player was half inside the penalty area with his foot in the air.
Had the player’s foot been on the ground, the penalty would certainly have been retaken, and had he been outside the area, the save would be deemed completely fair. His foot being airborne, yet inside the box, however, opens up a grey area.
The referee on the night believed that having the foot in the air did not warrant a retake, and saw Real Madrid lose their penalty.
However, there are strong grounds to claim that it should have been retaken as his foot being inside the box takes precedence over whether it was grounded or not.
Had the referee’s decision gone differently, one would have backed Mbappe to come good the second time and Real Madrid would have avoided the defeat.
Alvaro Valles deserves his flowers
For Real Madrid to create seven big chances, have 20 shots and an xG of 3.46, and yet not score is simply absurd. But it happened last night against Los Verdiblancos, and only one man stood in between Real Madrid and the scoresheet – Alvaro Valles.
The Real Betis goalkeeper delivered the performance of his lifetime as he stopped chance after chance and denied the visitors any sight of goal.
In 90 minutes, Valles made a staggering six saves, all of which came from inside the box, and prevented a direct xG of 2.98. In simpler terms, Real Madrid should have scored three goals past him with the quality of chances they had, but he directly stopped them all.
Further, Valles saved Mbappe’s penalty under the highest of pressure in a moment that was simply the crowning moment of his entire night.
On a different night, with a different goalkeeper, the outcome of the game could well have been very different.
Valles, however, deserves every bit of praise he is earning for his performance last night, and even Real Madrid fans have no option but to stand and applaud the shift he put in for ninety minutes.
