Welcome back, Gonçalo Guedes
Since the arrival of Pellegrino Matarazzo, the 29-year-old has been one of the most influential players in Spanish football.
It was more than tempting to think that Gonçalo Guedes’ best days were behind him. Since leaving Valencia in 2022, he had spent two largely anonymous seasons at Wolves, had an injury-hit loan at Benfica, and another loan at Villarreal that offered little-to-no signs of the real Guedes. The fact that the latter was under Marcelino – one of the managers for whom had shown his best version previously – made it especially underwhelming with regards to his career rival.
And then came Pellegrino Matarazzo; the manager that seemingly all of us didn’t know we needed.
After a fairly uneventful first half of the season at Real Sociedad, where Guedes began in a substitute role and then came in as a starter at the point where Sergio Francisco’s tenure was hitting the rocks, the arrival of Matarazzo served as an electric jolt for his career.
Almost instantly, the Portuguese was back; scoring, assisting, running the legs off defenders, as if it were 2019 again. Guedes has 11 goal involvements in 15 games under the American coach. And in LaLiga, Lamine Yamal (9) is the only player with more non-penalty goal involvements than Guedes (8) in 2026.
What’s behind the resurrection?
The obvious context is that Pellegrino Matarazzo has made Real Sociedad incredibly competitive again. But more importantly, incredibly competitive in his image. La Real are shredding teams with a combination of fast, vertical attacks, swarming after the ball out of possession, and getting disciplined defensive work from all 10 outfielders when that initial pressure doesn’t produce a turnover. Are they overperforming? No doubt. Are they getting excellent performance levels from individuals? Also, no doubt. Guedes is benefiting from his team context, but not before playing a big part in making it possible himself.
“I think we played good football, offensive football. But at the same time, we were all committed to defending and had good transition moments offensively. For me, those two topics – commitment in defence and speed and direction in transition – is winning mentality.”
Pellegrino Matarazzo after Real Sociedad’s win over Osasuna, March 15th
For a wide player of his profile, one who’s producing goals and assists, it’s interesting to note that he’s dribbling and carrying the ball as infrequently as he has in his career. Under Matarazzo, Guedes is barely beating players off the dribble at all, averaging just 0.24 completed per 90 in LaLiga (from 1.7 attempts). Nor is he generating shots or key passes following runs with the ball, with his per 90 averages again less than one (0.6).
What he is doing is wreaking havoc with his movements, in a team who are generating way more opportunities to run and attack at speed.
Since the start of the year — which covers Matarazzo’s tenure — Real Sociedad have scored the most fast break goals in LaLiga (5), and the joint-most across Europe’s big five leagues (level with Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg). Guedes himself has either scored (1) or assisted (2) three of those five.
Along with more opportunities to hit in transition and attack compromised defensive shapes, where Guedes is one of LaLiga’s most dangerous, we have seen a generally more active version when it comes to making himself available with off-ball runs. Not content just to receive passes to feet, but looking to punish at every possible opportunity.
Whether used from the left or right side, Guedes has also been granted license to attack the opponent’s back line from wherever he sees fit. Sometimes it’s with runs across the pitch (where full backs are reluctant to follow), other times it’s a quick give-and-go, where he has excelled with short and sharp interventions in play. Guedes isn’t hanging out wide and waiting for the ball to arrive, before gradually backing down defenders; he’s cropping up all across the width of the pitch, playing with few touches, and then darting off before the opposition have time to get to grips with him.
With how he’s performed this year, there’s also the feeling that Guedes is now right at the sweet spot of understanding how to move without the ball through acquired experience, without having left his athletic prime. The momentary blend of smart and electrically quick that won’t last for long.
(In a game where he scored two goals anyway, was there a better ignored movement in LaLiga than this this weekend? Good luck covering that, full backs.)
Although we don’t have tracking data available to confirm it, there’s also no questioning the fact that the 29-year-old is simply running harder and more intensely than we’ve seen for some time. There’s a renewed intention behind what he does.
Matarazzo’s buzz words – speed, transition – are the same ones we associate with Guedes at his best and, along with crafting a specific style of team play, he’s also clearly convinced the winger to play with much more aggression. You can see it in his movements in attack, but especially with the way he’s running the other way to help his full back. His efforts against Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey semi-finals were emphatic, in that sense.
The good news for Matarazzo is that this hasn’t just been a momentary spike. Likely reinforced by the team’s success, the collective intensity and commitment to their style — which relies hugely on energy — has stayed consistent across the board. Substitutes and rotation players who come in have an elevated minimum intensity that they have to hit if they’re to advance their case for minutes, especially when those players that are producing the most (like Guedes) are playing with this level of hunger.
In Guedes’ case, there’s nothing to do but keep his foot on the accelerator. The 2026 version of Real Sociedad is an increasingly established machine which engineers situations where he shines, and now is the time to extract all that he can from it.
That’s not to say his current level of goal production is bound to continue. Naturally, it will come back to earth. His six goals under Matarazzo have been scored from 2.1 xG, including two unstoppable strikes from range.
But if there’s one thing Guedes has always been, it’s a tremendous striker of the ball. In the era of xG, file him under players that you’re happy to let take on shots from range, even accounting for the maths behind it. The Portuguese is a match-winning type of talent that Real Sociedad had to wait to become a depressed asset before they could hope to attract (and then revive) him.
Guedes won’t keep deciding matches. But a Guedes who will believe he can, playing with this level of determination, is someone who can keep fuelling the turnaround of a season that looked to be going nowhere fast at the turn of the year.
It is great to see stories of perseverance! It looks like Guedes has really found a home with Real Sociedad. Also, lets just give some props to Pellegrino Matarazzo. They really have a chance to qualify for some European football! #31DaySprint