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"We're the team that runs the least in La Liga?"
Marc Cucurella appeared taken aback when the statistic was put to him during an interview on Spanish radio show El Larguero over the international break.
"That catches me off guard, because we actually put in a lot of running," the left back said. "Maybe these numbers are being brought up now because we lost the derby and we lost to Betis. If we'd won every game, no one would be talking about any of this."
The figure is accurate, though it comes with an important qualifier. According to data widely circulated on social media this week, Real Madrid sit bottom of La Liga—20th out of 20—for total distance covered this season. However, interpreting this as Madrid simply running less than everyone else is somewhat misleading. What is actually being measured is all on-field movement, from sprints to light jogging to walking—meaning Madrid move less than their rivals overall.
Los Blancos have collectively covered roughly 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) less per game than the average La Liga side across the opening seven matches of 2026–27, and a staggering 21 km (13 miles) less than Barcelona.
Is Madrid's Movement a Problem?
🚨 Real Madrid is the team that runs the LEAST in La Liga this season.
The team covers 21km less per game than Barcelona, and covers 10km less than the average La Liga team. pic.twitter.com/WL12j3SECi
Distance covered is a tricky metric to interpret in football. It instinctively feels as though there should be a clear link between covering more ground and achieving better results. "Run more" is among the most common demands from frustrated supporters watching a struggling side.
The data doesn't necessarily support that assumption, though.
In the Premier League this season, defending champions Arsenal lead the distance covered rankings with an average of 118.7 km (73 miles) per match. Yet sitting in 18th place are current actual table-leaders Manchester City, averaging just 111.2 km (69 miles). Liverpool, despite a mixed but unbeaten opening to 2026–27, prop up those standings at 110.3 km (68.5 miles) per game.
Last season, Madrid finished 12th in La Liga by the same measure, while Barcelona placed only fifth. At this early stage of the new campaign, it is actually 18th-placed Elche who are covering the most ground, averaging 105.61 km (65.6 miles) per match.
Ultimately, distance covered figures tend to reflect a team's tactical identity, with high-intensity pressing sides naturally logging the most movement. Seven matches also represents too small a sample to draw any firm conclusions.
Notably, a CIES Football Observatory report from 2021 found no causal relationship between running more and accumulating more points. Modern sports science instead places greater emphasis on sprint data, acceleration patterns and positional context rather than the broad measure of "distance covered" alone.
Real Madrid's Issues Run Deeper
It has been a turbulent start to the new campaign for Real Madrid, who have dropped points in two of their opening seven fixtures—away defeats to Real Betis and Atlético Madrid—with a number of underlying issues surfacing at the start of what was billed as a new chapter.
While Kylian Mbappé has been in outstanding form, his attacking partner Vinícius Jr has looked a pale imitation of himself, managing just one goal in 2026–27 so far.
The Brazilian was barely visible in the Madrid derby defeat, and a pointed graphic from L'Équipe illustrated how he and Mbappé continue to occupy near-identical positions on the pitch—a recurring issue since the Frenchman's arrival in 2024.
Ball retention has been another significant concern for Los Blancos, who have been outpossessed in three of their last four matches across all competitions (Atlético, Elche and Inter) and have failed to win a single second half in any of their last five outings. Meanwhile, a leaky backline, despite new defensive additions, has produced just one clean sheet all season—against newly promoted Málaga at home.
"In the end, the stats are there, so we need to improve them, or we need to win every game so these stats don't get as much attention," Cucurella concluded. "Maybe we need to give a bit more and improve things."
There are certainly areas for Madrid to address, but running for the sake of it is probably not one of them.