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Real Madrid's Champions League elimination has been blamed on a shocking lack of physical effort, with Ancelotti's side running the fewest kilometers of all eight quarter-finalists.
Real Madrid crashed out of the Champions League without showing signs of a true comeback, and now the Spanish media are pointing fingers at a hard fact — Carlo Ancelotti's team simply didn’t run enough.
In both legs against Arsenal, Real covered 21 kilometers less than the English side — an incredible gap that paints a picture of a team outpaced, outmuscled, and perhaps even unmotivated at key moments.
Arsenal managed the game from start to finish in both legs, while Real Madrid failed to ever really trouble them. It wasn’t just about tactics or execution — the energy levels on the pitch told a deeper story.
Real covered only 208.7 km in total over two legs, the lowest by far among the quarter-final teams. Even eliminated sides like Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund outran their opponents, while Bayern Munich topped the chart with 243.4 km.
This stat has caused a stir in Spain, where some analysts are calling Real’s performance “slacker football” — citing a lack of intensity from star players and a team dynamic that relies more on technical brilliance than work rate.
But against a young, physically dominant team like Arsenal, that approach simply didn’t hold up. Many are now questioning if Ancelotti's positional play and reliance on veteran stars needs a rethink, especially when facing modern, high-energy football.
Here’s how the quarter-final teams ranked by distance covered:
- 1. Bayern Munich – 243.4 km
- 2. Borussia Dortmund – 237.3 km
- 3. Inter Milan – 236.1 km
- 4. Barcelona – 234.0 km
- 5. Aston Villa – 230.5 km
- 6. Arsenal – 229.9 km
- 7. PSG – 225.4 km
- 8. Real Madrid – 208.7 km
Real Madrid may have the most Champions League trophies in history, but this campaign ended with a brutal stat that’s hard to ignore: they simply didn’t run enough.