Güler Revives Mourinho's Madrid

Real Madrid has an exceptional roster. This was evident in Rome, where the players underutilized by Mourinho turned around a major mess—a strategy of direct play without a midfield that allowed Roma to dominate. The Setúbal coach’s former team took a 3-1 lead, with Vinicius particularly off his game, and the desperate substitutions worked a miracle. Arda Güler delivered three perfectly executed corner kicks that were converted by Espí, Endrick, and Rüdiger—three goals in seven minutes to secure the win and offer several lessons. Soccer is played with midfielders, and when one player isn’t performing well, you have to make way for another who comes in hungry. The uproar over Vinicius’s suspension and the controversy surrounding the referees took some of the spotlight away from the match in Rome, where Mourinho reaffirmed his status as “The Special One” by lifting a European title.