Real Madrid Defender has clocked Real's top speed

Nacho becomes a regular

It is no surprise or accident to see Nacho do so well when called upon by Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.

The Frenchman is a big admirer of the centre-back, who is more confident than ever before and is enjoying playing his football at a particularly high level of late.

In fact, so good a physical condition is Nacho that it may come as a surprise to discover that he is the fastest player in Los Blancos' squad.

No, it isn't Gareth Bale, nor Cristiano Ronaldo or even Alvaro Morata who has clocked the highest speed this year but in fact their reliable utility defender by reaching a velocity of 34.63 kilometres per hour, according to official LaLiga data.

That figure may be a surprise to many but not the Real coaching staff who have been well aware of those impressive numbers, which he has been hitting since pre-season.

Alongside Raphael Varane, Nacho is the quickest defender in the side but has moved beyond that to outdo proven sprinters like Bale and Ronaldo across short distances this season.

Morata and Bale have both registered a top speed of 34.3 km/h, which put them in joint third place behind Nacho and Mateo Kovacic, who has recorded a high speed of 34.59 km/h in the league.

LaLiga's data records the highest peak speed of the players and not their average speed over the course of a game, highlighting Nacho's explosiveness, with the Spaniard capable of reaching top speed in just a few metres.

Bale, by comparison, is more similar to an athlete like Usain Bolt, for example, as he takes a longer period of time to reach his maximum speed, although his average speed is higher than any other Real player.

In a 100m race, it is unlikely that any of his Los Blancos teammates would be able to overcome the Welshman.

Another eye-opener in relation to the LaLiga data is that it confirms something which is obvious to the naked eye: Real do not have the quickest midfielder.

Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, James Rodriguez and Isco are all below the 32 km/h barrier and of all of the midfielders, Kovacic is comfortably the fastest, while Casemiro is the next highest with 32.51 km/h.

The statistics also confirm the words uttered by Fabio Coentrao in Portugal last Tuesday when he claimed that he was not in the right physical condition to feature for Real.

Although he has only played in three league games, his data is not at the level that would be expected, having failed to reach 30 km/h in any of his appearances.

It is also interesting to touch upon a question that many fans are asking: could the fastest players compete with professional sprinters in a 100m race?

Quite simply, the answer is no. Although Madrid have some of the fastest players in LaLiga at their disposal, their data is a long way off the fastest athletes in the world.

When Bolt broke the 100m world record to become the fastest man on the planet, reached a top speed of 44.72 km/h, numbers which are light years away from those footballers can reach.

Experts in physical fitness and speed measurement estimate that it is almost impossible for a footballer to surpass a top speed of 36 km/h.