Bayern's Alphonso Davies tops 22-23 UCL Road Runners

UEFA have released their technical report of the 2022-23 Champions League, taking a look at some of the most interesting stats from the tournament that ultimately culminated in Manchester City's 1-0 triumph in Istanbul over Inter Milan.

One of the most notable rankings is the speed stars - as the organisation compiled a list of the top sprints recorded during the competition. Featuring big names from all of Europe's top leagues, the chart is topped by none other than Bayern Munich defender Alphonso Davies.

The Canadian reached a top speed of 37.1km/h in his side's group stage match at Inter, and used his great sprinting to open up attacking options for the German team in their transitions.

He is out comfortably ahead of the rest, with a second-place tie going to Ousmane Dembele (PSG) and Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea), who have both since moved clubs - the Frenchman reached his top speed at Barcelona while the Ukrainian matched his sprint of 36.6km/h while still at Shakhtar Dontesk.

The rest are fractionally separated, as coming up behind them are Rafael Leao (Milan - 36.5km/h), Gabriel Veron (Porto - 36.4km/h) and Fede Valverde (Real Madrid - 36.3km/h).

Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares, on loan last season at Marseille, clocked in at 36.2km/h for his French side while Moussa Diaby, now at Aston Villa, recorded a top sprint of 36.1km/h with Bayer Leverkusen.

Matching his top speed is Borussia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi, who recorded his sprint at home against Chelsea as he raced down the pitch to net a stunning counter-attacking goal, even prompting coach Edin Terzic to make the Road Runner comparison.

Rounding off the top sprinters are Benfica's Rafa Silva and Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai (formerly of RB Leipzig) who made the list at 35.9km/h.

 

August 18, 2023