Real Madrid and Liverpool stars get into spat on international duty

Increasingly, the younger generation of stars coming through are open to responding to critics and even rivals in a very public manner. The latest pair to go head-to-head are Real Madrid starlet Arda Guler and Liverpool number eight Dominik Szoboszlai, who were involved in a heated spat on international duty.

That much was evident in Spain’s clash too, as Lamine Yamal dedicated both a celebration and a social media post to Rafael van der Vaart, after the former Netherlands international and Real Madrid man criticised him before the second leg of their Nations League quarter-final. Meanwhile the return fixture between Turkiye and Hungary also brought some drama, as explained by MD.

Suspended for the first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off between the two sides, Guler returned to the Turkiye team with his side 3-1 up from the first leg. The 20-year-old started the second leg in Budapest, and was in fine form, scoring the second in a 3-0 victory which gave his side a 6-1 aggregate victory. After several comings together, at one point Guler told Hungarian captain Szoboszlai to be quiet with a gesture.

🤫El pique entre Arda Güler y Dominik Szoboszlai durante el Hungría-Turquía no se quedó en el campo.

Así respondió el jugador del Liverpool a un post dcon una foto el madridista mándandole callar: 1088, que son los minutos que ha jugado el zurdo esta temporada. pic.twitter.com/65RkWZRWVq

— BeSoccer (@besoccer_ES) March 24, 2025

Something that the Liverpool star did not take kindly to, and remained in his mind after the game. After a picture of the incident was posted by a Hungarian outlet on social media, Szoboszlai responded in the comments simply with ‘1088’. The reference being that this is the amount of minutes that Guler has played for Real Madrid this season.

Guler is reportedly becoming more and more frustrated with his status and lack of game time under Carlo Ancelotti. Unless he is guaranteed a bigger role next season, it is believed that Guler will seek a transfer away from Los Blancos this summer. Relations with Ancelotti have been cold for some time, and in those 1,088 minutes, Guler has made just ten starts. The Italian is reportedly disappointed in his contribution for several reasons.