When we look at how much distance a team covers in a match, it doesn't tell us much beyond, well, how much distance that team covered in that match.
Across Europe's Big Five top leagues this season, can you guess which team covers the most ground? Let me stop you right there -- you can't; the answer is FC Saint Pauli. Per data from PFF FC, manager Alexander Blessin gets his guys to move 104.84 kilometers every game.
You might, though, be able to guess which team moves the least. That would be Real Madrid, who cover 91.99 kilometers per game -- no one else in Europe is below 94 kilometers. While most top teams tend to cover less ground on average, Madrid covering so much less ground than everyone else helps explain some of their problems this season.
However, those numbers don't say anything about how the ground got covered. If you run a leisurely 5 miles or cover a half mile with intermittent 100-meter sprints, the latter is going to take a much bigger physical toll on your body even though the distance is significantly shorter. So, perhaps we can learn a little more about the European landscape by looking at how often everyone sprints.
PFF FC defines a sprint as any time when a player is moving at a speed of at least 25 kilometers per hour. Here's how all 96 first-division teams across England's Premier League, Spain's LaLiga, Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1 stack up when we compare them by how much distance they cover while sprinting. We'll go from the teams covering the most ground to the least.
1. Tottenham Hotspur: 2.98 kilometers per 90 minutes
The wildest thing about this number is that Tottenham have only one player in the top 25 in the Premier League for total distance covered while sprinting: Dejan Kulusevski, 9.42 kilometers, 22nd most. They came out of the gates on fire, everyone got injured, and then all the new guys kept running, too.
You can draw all kinds of conclusions from stats like these, and I do think a lot of Tottenham's injuries this season were bad luck rather than being caused by their breakneck pace. I also do think that getting your players to sprint more than everyone else is a competitive advantage -- were it actually possible. Marcelo Bielsa famously once said, "If players weren't human, I'd never lose." Ange Postecoglou seems to think that way, too.
2. AFC Bournemouth: 2.89 kilometers
Again, I wouldn't view this data in a vacuum to come up with absolute takeaways, but it's probably not a coincidence that the two teams at the top of these rankings both seem like they ran out of gas. After breaking into the Champions League places over the winter, Bournemouth have won just one of their past 10 across all competitions.
3. Rayo Vallecano: 2.84 kilometers
In case you're not sure what kind of physical output Andoni Iraola demands from his teams, his current team is second in the sprint rankings, and his previous team ranks third.
4. Liverpool: 2.83 kilometers
Liverpool's decline in form has been a bit overstated. They've won more Premier League points than anyone else in both the first and second halves of the season, and they got knocked out of the Champions League by PSG on penalties. They also just pummeled Leicester over the weekend, even though none of the shots went in until late:
But they still haven't been quite as good as they were before the calendar flipped to 2025. The big difference, I think, is just that they haven't been able to access that higher gear that they got to so often in the first half of the season when they simply blew their opponents off the field. Maybe some of that comes down to all the running?
5. Newcastle United: 2.83 kilometers
The big difference between Newcastle, who were on a nice little early-spring run before getting punked by Aston Villa over the weekend, and the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea? Those three have, respectively, played 51, 50 and 49 games across all competitions this season, while Eddie Howe's side has played only 43.
6. Chelsea: 2.81 kilometers
That's now five Premier League teams that are sprinting more than 2.8 kilometers per game this season, and at least four of them have been worse in the second half of the season than they were in the first.
7. Brentford: 2.80 kilometers
That's six Premier League teams in our top seven -- and more broadly, it shows what people actually mean when they say that the Premier League is more physical than other leagues. Here's how the five stack up by average sprint distance per game:
1. Premier League: 2.57 kilometers
2. Serie A: 2.31 kilometers
3. LaLiga: 2.28 kilometers
4. Ligue 1: 2.24 kilometers
5. Bundesliga: 2.12 kilometers
The gap between the Premier League and Serie A is significantly bigger than the gap between Serie A and the Bundesliga. The biggest adjustment for any player coming to the Premier League might not be a tactical one, but rather a physical adaptation: the players simply move faster, for longer, week in and week out.
8. Napoli: 2.73 kilometers
I was ready to attribute all of this to Antonio Conte's arrival as manager, but while Napoli are sprinting more than in the past, they led Serie A in sprint distance during both last season's dysfunctional disaster and the prior season's title win.
9. Strasbourg: 2.73 kilometers
While Chelsea's new owners have done a lot wrong, at least they're getting their satellite club to match up with the physical profile of the Premier League. Strasbourg have five players who rank in the top 20 of Ligue 1 for total distance sprinted, and they're all 22 years old or younger.
10. Barcelona: 2.68 kilometers
Last season, Barcelona ranked sixth in LaLiga for sprint distance. This season, they rank 10th in all of Europe. Behold, the Hansi Flick effect. But also, beware: Can they keep this up for another month?
Oh, and if you're looking for more Raphina-for-Ballon d'Or propaganda: his 11.44 kilometers sprinted are more than any other player in LaLiga.
11. Crystal Palace: 2.64 kilometers
12. Brighton & Hove Albion: 2.64 kilometers
13. AC Milan: 2.62 kilometers
14. Ipswich Town: 2.54 kilometers
15. Mallorca: 2.53 kilometers
16. Nice: 2.52 kilometers
17. Manchester United: 2.51 kilometers
18. Leicester City: 2.51 kilometers
19. Aston Villa: 2.50 kilometers
With the added load of their first Champions League matches this century, Villa were supposed to be the kind of team that crashes in the second half of the season. Instead, they played PSG to the wire in the quarterfinals, and they've won 10 of their past 11 in all competitions.
Despite first-half struggles, Simon Tinsley's projections still give Unai Emery & Co. a 1-in-5 chance of finishing top five. Perhaps his slightly less-demanding physical approach has kept the team fresh for the second half of the season?
20. Lens: 2.46 kilometers
21. Atalanta: 2.45 kilometers
22. Southampton: 2.45 kilometers
23. AS Monaco: 2.45 kilometers
24. Nottingham Forest: 2.45 kilometers
25. Valencia: 2.44 kilometers
26. Como: 2.43 kilometers
27. Atlético Madrid: 2.42 kilometers
Diego Simeone's team covers the most ground of any team in LaLiga -- by a wide margin. Atlético average 103.14 kilometers per match, while no other team averages more than 101.32. It's nothing new, either. They've ranked either first or second in distance covered in each of the past two seasons, too.
28. Wolverhampton Wanderers: 2.42 kilometers
29. Bologna: 2.40 kilometers
30. West Ham United: 2.39 kilometers
31. Fulham: 2.38 kilometers
And the winner for most distance covered while sprinting in the Big Five leagues this season is ... Antonee Robinson! He's the only player who has sprinted more than 14 kilometers so far this season. And I continue to enjoy the fact that the most stereotypical American soccer player in the world -- the fast dude who seems like he might have four lungs -- was born in the United Kingdom.
32. Empoli: 2.37 kilometers
33. Real Sociedad: 2.35 kilometers
34. Real Betis: 2.35 kilometers
35. Holstein Kiel: 2.35 kilometers
36. Arsenal: 2.34 kilometers
And here we enter the Champions League semifinal sweet spot. With Arsenal, Inter Milan and PSG, all three clubs average somewhere between 2.34 and 2.32 kilometers of sprinting per game. I could try to argue that these numbers show us that (A) these clubs have access to an elite level of running output, but (B) they haven't worn themselves out by getting there that often.
That might be true -- and I do think these very different tactical sides are similar in how they're comfortable across a few different modes of play -- but Manchester City and Real Madrid aren't too far away from here, either, and they're both having their worst seasons of the decade.
37. Internazionale: 2.33 kilometers
38. Lyon: 2.32 kilometers
39. Paris Saint-Germain: 2.32 kilometers
40. Osasuna: 2.32 kilometers
41. Stade Rennais FC: 2.32 kilometers
42. Manchester City: 2.31 kilometers
A somewhat interesting trend? Here's where Manchester City ranked in the Premier League for sprint distance over the past five seasons:
-2020-21: 5th
-2021-22: tied for 4th
-2022-23: 14th
-2023-24: 17th
-2024-25: 19th
Aging team? New style? Probably a bit of both. Definitely not working.
43. Parma: 2.31 kilometers
44. Udinese: 2.30 kilometers
45. Real Madrid: 2.28 kilometers
Now this is a fun one. In possession in LaLiga, Real Madrid sprint more than all but Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Rayo Vallecano. Out of possession, only Villarreal, Celta Vigo and Girona sprint less often. Their leading out-of-possession sprinter is Federico Valverde, unsurprisingly, but his 2.47 kilometers rank 53rd in the league.
46. Lazio: 2.28 kilometers
47. Monza: 2.28 kilometers
48. Villarreal: 2.28 kilometers
49. Cagliari: 2.27 kilometers
50. VfL Wolfsburg: 2.27 kilometers
51. Toulouse: 2.27 kilometers
What I like most about these physical statistics is that they tell us more about how a team is trying to play than a lot of the on-ball data we have access to does. At least, there doesn't seem to be much of a correlation between "sprinting a lot" and "winning a lot of soccer games," while things like final-third possession or penalty-area touches would just double as a list of most of the best teams in the world.
Toulouse probably have the most sound and integrated top-to-bottom analytical process in Europe. They have data-based ideas about how to win the most points possible, and more importantly, those ideas get onto the field because their owners are some of the most accomplished people in all of what I'll crudely refer to as "sports analytics." So, whenever I see a number that tells me what Toulouse is trying to do, I make sure to clock it.
52. Athletic Club: 2.27 kilometers
53. Bayer Leverkusen: 2.27 kilometers
Jeremie Frimpong leads the Bundesliga in sprint distance by more than a full kilometer. When you're scouting a wing-back like Frimpong, it's tricky because the position exists only for teams that play a back three. But Frimpong has shown enough physically, I think, that I would at least consider the possibility of him being able to function in a back four, where a lot more ground needs to be covered by the fullbacks.
54. Lille: 2.25 kilometers
55. Juventus: 2.24 kilometers
56. VfB Stuttgart: 2.24 kilometers
57. Eintracht Frankfurt: 2.24 kilometers
58. Everton: 2.23 kilometers
59. VfL Bochum: 2.22 kilometers
60. Genoa: 2.21 kilometers
61. Venezia: 2.21 kilometers
62. Marseille: 2.20 kilometers
63. Alavés: 2.20 kilometers
64. Fiorentina: 2.19 kilometers
65. Bayern Munich: 2.19 kilometers
I don't quite know what to make of this, but despite landing quite low on these rankings, Bayern and Borussia Dortmund (nine spots below) ranked first and second for sprint distance in the Champions League this season.
On the one hand, you'd think there might be a physical advantage later in the season to not having to hit top speed so often in your domestic league. On the other hand, both teams got dumped out of the Champions League quarters by teams that run way more in their domestic leagues.
66. Sevilla: 2.19 kilometers
67. AJ Auxerre: 2.18 kilometers
68. Getafe: 2.18 kilometers
69. Torino: 2.18 kilometers
70. Borussia Monchengladbach: 2.16 kilometers
71. Brest: 2.16 kilometers
72. Stade de Reims: 2.16 kilometers
73. Espanyol: 2.15 kilometers
74. Borussia Dortmund: 2.14 kilometers
This isn't your father's Borussia Dortmund. No, it's your grandfather's Borussia Dortmund. Among their 11 most-used players this season, just one is under the age of 25.
75. AS Roma: 2.14 kilometers
76. Nantes: 2.12 kilometers
77. Lecce: 2.11 kilometers
78. Las Palmas: 2.11 kilometers
79. Hellas Verona: 2.11 kilometers
80. RB Leipzig: 2.10 kilometers
What happens when you combine Jurgen Klopp with the only club system that might love pressing more than he does? You get ... a team that sprints less often than anyone in the Premier League or Serie A.
With Klopp taking over as head of global football at Red Bull in January and Leipzig currently sporting a negative expected goal differential in the Bundesliga, I'd expect this number to be much higher next season. Leipzig were either first or second in Germany for sprinting distance in each of the previous three seasons.
81. Leganés: 2.10 kilometers
82. Real Valladolid: 2.10 kilometers
83. SC Freiburg: 2.07 kilometers
84. Union Berlin: 2.07 kilometers
85. Werder Bremen: 2.07 kilometers
86. TSG Hoffenheim: 2.06 kilometers
87. Montpellier: 2.06 kilometers
88. Mainz 05: 2.05 kilometers
89. Saint-Etienne: 2.05 kilometers
90. Celta Vigo: 2.02 kilometers
91. Heidenheim: 2.00 kilometers
92. Le Havre AC: 1.95 kilometers
93. Angers: 1.90 kilometers
94. St. Pauli: 1.87 kilometers
95. FC Augsburg: 1.80 kilometers
96. Girona: 1.79 kilometers
While Strasbourg have mirrored Chelsea's approach, Girona have done the same as their parent club, Manchester City, by getting even slower than they were before. They ranked 17th in LaLiga for sporting distance last season, as they shocked everyone and finished third. After losing pretty much all of their best players over the summer, they've sprinted less than everyone else in Europe and dropped down into the relegation battle.
Teams like Leicester City and Atletico Madrid have won trophies by employing strategies that went against the mainstream approaches of the time. Perhaps that worked for Girona last season, but not anymore. Among the 40 fastest players in LaLiga (as measured by the highest speed a player reaches over a five-game span), none of them play for Girona. But among the bottom 40? They've got five.