Real Madrid secured a 3-2 comeback win over Milan on Sunday night in Los Angeles, and it was all smiles at the end.
Star signing Jude Bellingham looked on song, Fede Valverde looked back to his best, and Vinicius Junior looked no different to his sensational self.
However the big surprise coming out of Real Madrid this preseason has been the quality of Arda Guler. The 18-year-old Turkish talent has been impressing constantly in training, and Carlo Ancelotti has reportedly altered his plans as a result.
Yet Guler did not feature against Milan, instead remaining on the bench. Diario AS say this was because of a light muscle strain ahead of the game, meaning he did not excercise ahead of the game, and thus was left out as a precaution.
They go on to say that if Bellingham does in fact play as a number 10, then Guler is primed to be his alternative there this season.
Recently it has also emerged that Real Madrid are putting Guler on a special training regime in order to see him gain muscle and weight, in order to make him harder to shrug off and build up his resilience to a more physical league.
It may be that the changes to his routine are having an impact, although it is very early to jump to that conclusion. Equally, there was little reason to run any risks yesterday.
