Victor Osimhen, a Nigerian striker, is now ranked second among center-forwards still playing in this season’s UEFA Champions League, behind Kylian Mbappé, for distance travelled at less than 7 km/h. New data from the CIES Football Observatory supports this.
The study evaluated the running characteristics of athletes whose teams are still competing, defining the maximum sprint speeds as well as the percentage of distance travelled within specified speed ranges.
Among the 100 players examined, Real Madrid player Mbappé recorded the largest percentage of his overall distance—43.5%—at speeds lower than 7 km/h.
Galatasaray representative Osimhen came in second with 41.9%.
Instead of focusing only on sprint output, the data shows the movement profiles of center-forwards during controlled play phases, including placement and link-up involvement.
With a time of 37.92 km/h, Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United was the quickest player overall in the maximum speed category.
Osimhen finished 11th in the positional standings with a top speed of 33.45 km/h, while Mbappé led the strikers with a top speed of 35.67 km/h.
Osimhen’s score puts him ahead of a number of notable strikers in the competition, including as Ayoub El Kaabi of Olympiacos, Omar Marmoush of Manchester City, Alexander Sørloth of Atletico Madrid, and Viktor Gyökeres of Arsenal.
This season, the Nigerian international has made seven appearances in the Champions League, tallying six goals and two assists.
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