Jude Bellingham warned his team-mates to run more efficiently, with stats proving him right following the Champions League defeat to Arsenal.
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Bellingham spoke about running stats ahead of 2nd leg vs ArsenalMadrid lost 5-1 on aggregate against the GunnersStats from the 2nd leg prove Bellingham rightFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Bellingham issued a warning to his Madrid teammates about the need to run more, but also with intelligence — and the numbers have backed him up. Following their Champions League defeat to Arsenal in the quarter-final, the statistics at the final whistle lent weight to Bellingham’s pre-match remarks.
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Following the first leg at the Emirates Stadium last week, it was revealed that Madrid ran a staggering 12.7 km less than Arsenal. Ahead of the return leg, Bellingham shed light on the stat while speaking to the reporters.
He stated: “It’s true that if you run more, you have more of a chance. You know, if you run 14km less than the opponent, it’s like playing with a player less. Yes, it impacts your game. But the same thing happened last year: we didn’t run the most and we won the Champions League. We have to know what it means to run from one side to the other. We have to know how to run. Tomorrow we’ll want to run much more, and hopefully we’ll have a better plan to do it.”
DID YOU KNOW?
In the first leg in London, Los Blancos covered a total distance of 101.2 km. While they managed to improve that figure at the Santiago Bernabeu — adding 6.3 km to reach 107.5 km — they were still outworked by Arsenal. According to Cadena COPE, Mikel Arteta’s side ran a total of 116 km in the return leg, outpacing Los Blancos by a notable 8.5 km in their own backyard.
ImagoWHAT NEXT FOR JUDE BELLINGHAM?
The 21-year-old Englishman will return to action on Sunday, April 20, when Real Madrid take on an in-form Athletic Bilbao side at the Bernabeu. Madrid are currently four points behind league leaders Barcelona with just seven games to go.