Borussia Dortmund tops the ranking – these clubs sprint most often

On the pitch of Signal Iduna Park you can see a player who, after a pass, immediately accelerates to over 25 km/h and sprints for more than 0.7 seconds. Intensity in football has increased more and more over time, and a new statistic shows which teams sprint most often per game. In the ranking, Borussia Dortmund is in tenth place with 12.45 sprints per player per 90 minutes.

Metric and Methodology of Sprint Analysis

A study by the CIES Football Observatory in collaboration with Skillcorner measures the number of sprints per player per 90 minutes. A sprint is defined as movement above 25 km/h for at least 0.7 seconds. These metrics – sprints and their frequency – are considered interesting key figures for assessing intensity in football.

Two Bundesliga clubs appear in the ranking. In tenth place is Borussia Dortmund with 12.45 sprints, while the New York Red Bulls with 12.58 sprints per 90 minutes are the only non‑European club.

International and National Leaders

From a German perspective, Borussia Mönchengladbach ranks seventh and records 12.66 sprints per 90 minutes. Despite these numbers, the Foals are going nowhere this season, which led to the dismissal of coach Eugen Polanski.

However, two English teams set the tone. In second place is the promoted Ipswich Town with 12.97 sprints, while FC Liverpool under Andoni Iraola even records 13.73 sprints per player per 90 minutes, making it the world number one.

The study shows that intensity in football is steadily increasing. Clubs could increasingly invest in sprint training in the future to avoid falling behind in competition.