# Arda Güler, left out of the Athens trip, has a hand in two of Madrid's three at Mestalla

José Mourinho feared what a week of travel would do to his side, and the answer came from a player who had not made the trip. Real Madrid's eighth win in a row takes them to 30 points, level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Report · La Liga
Editorial board · 7 November 2026

- Valencia v Real Madrid
- Kick-off: 2026-11-07 20:00 UTC
- Ground: Mestalla Stadium
- Status: Full time
- Score: Valencia 0 – 3 Real Madrid
- Full time: Federico Valverde 28′ · Arda Güler 36′ · Kylian Mbappé 75′

Arda Güler was left at home when Real Madrid flew to Athens on Wednesday, and at Mestalla he decided the match from both ends of a pass. He scored the second goal in the 36th minute and set up Kylian Mbappé for the third in the 75th, and Madrid won 3-0 without the week in their legs ever counting against them.

The first goal came from a free kick that did not go in. Pablo Maffeo was booked for bringing Mbappé down near the edge of the area, Mbappé's shot struck the wall, and Federico Valverde, playing at right-back, drove the rebound from outside the box into the bottom left corner after 28 minutes.

Eight minutes later Jude Bellingham got in behind Valencia's back five on the left and pulled the ball across the area, and Güler put it into the top right corner from the middle of the box. Valencia had a goal of their own by then, Guido Rodríguez's from a corner, and lost it to an offside flag.

Stole Dimitrievski kept the score at 2-0 for 39 minutes, twice denying Mbappé after the break. Then Güler slid a through ball into the area, Mbappé went round the goalkeeper and scored from the right of the six-yard box. Four minutes later José Gayà, the last man, brought Mbappé down and was sent off.

Madrid have 30 points, the same as Barcelona, who go to Atlético on Sunday. Valencia stay 19th on nine points, and Mestalla, in its last season, has still not seen them win a league match.