The stat exposing Real Madrid's squad: least running in LaLiga | OneFootball

Some statistics need a whiteboard, three analysts and half an hour of explanation. This one needs much less. Real Madrid are the team that cover the fewest kilometres in all of LaLiga. Bottom. Twentieth out of twenty. After seven matchdays, Sofascore data places the Madrid side at 83.46 kilometres per match. Nobody runs less.

The table becomes even more irritating when you look at the top. The league average stands at 93.37 kilometres and Elche lead this particular ranking with 105.61. Right behind them come Barcelona, with 104.64. The Blaugrana therefore cover 21.18 kilometres more per match than Real Madrid. That hardly seems like a minor difference.

Eleven against almost fourteen

There is an even more graphic way to understand it. Dividing the collective distance by the eleven players on the pitch, each Barcelona position theoretically accounts for 9.51 kilometres; at Madrid it is 7.59. At that rate, Los Blancos would need 13.8 players to cover the same kilometres that eleven Blaugrana do.

The average distance covered data in LaLigaSofascore

Rounded off, eleven against fourteen. And no, the other three are not the referee and his two assistants with their flags. It is only a mathematical equivalence — substitutions, positions and minutes make it impossible to convert it into real individual distances — but it helps visualise a collective difference that, expressed simply as 21 kilometres, might otherwise be much harder to grasp.

Another obvious caveat should be added. Running more does not necessarily mean playing better. An extraordinarily well-organised team can save energy by occupying space correctly, moving the opposition around and pressing in a coordinated way. The small problem is trying to explain the current Real Madrid that way. What happened at the Metropolitano did not exactly look like a display of energy-saving thanks to unquestionable tactical superiority.

The legs are being looked after better

Besides, not everything stays the same. Mourinho has toughened some of the routines around the team since his arrival: diet, rest, recovery, punctuality and work outside training are now subject to greater control. There was room to improve certain habits at Valdebebas, and the Portuguese did not take long to get involved in that less visible side of football.

The treatment room seems free of muscle injuries, and it would be too easy to attribute every avoided injury to a new methodology, but fitness work and recovery now appear to be watched much more closely. But Madrid may be taking better care of their legs without using them more during matches. One thing is preserving them. Quite another is putting them to work.

Four managers and the mountain is still there

Because it is starting to become difficult to keep looking exclusively at the dugout. Neither Ancelotti, nor Xabi Alonso, nor Arbeloa, nor now Mourinho have managed to consistently sharpen the competitive edge of this squad. Not even two trophyless seasons seem to have triggered a lasting reaction. Managers change, systems change, players arrive. Some lapses survive them all.

Sofascore's kilometre figures do not prove indolence, do not measure commitment and are not useful for handing out certificates of professionalism. Besides, their figures are lower than those provided by Mediacoach, and the two measurements should not be mixed. But they do allow the twenty clubs to be compared using the same yardstick. And the other nineteen cover more distance than Real Madrid.

At this point, perhaps it is time to accept that the mountain is not going to come to Muhammad. Four different Muhammads have already passed through the dugout and the mountain remains almost exactly where it was. The manager will have to go to it and find the formula to make these players compete. And, while he is at it, get them to run a little more. Though at this stage...

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.