Scottish giants Celtic have been found to be the biggest passing side in the world this season, based on analysis from the CIES Football Observatory.
Under new Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, the Hoops pass the ball an average of 725 times per match accounting for 12.8 kilometres of distance.
Those numbers have seen them edge out second-place Dinamo Zagreb and third-place Ajax - with both club's passing distance per match sitting at 11.8km.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have come fifth, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool eighth and previous pass masters Barcelona have scrapped in at tenth.
The analysis looked at passing stats from 654 teams from around the world with Mexican club Atletico San Luis coming in last for pass distance at 6.9km and Scottish side Livingston completing the fewest average passes each match with 315.
New @CIES_Football ⚽️ Weekly Post presents the @InStatFootball 📊 data on ball circulation for clubs from 4⃣0⃣ leagues 🌐 @CelticFC 🔝 moved the ball for 12.8km/match during possession 👏 Full data 👉 https://t.co/Nmk6l1BAuY pic.twitter.com/LHRaylqOwu
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) November 29, 2021
Former Socceroos coach Postecoglou has always prided himself on an attacking style of play that involves quick ball circulation and Celtic have seemingly embraced that philosophy as well.
In their most recent match against Aberdeen, the Hoops attempted 221 more passes as they claimed a 2-1 win in the Scottish Premiership.
Even in defeat, Postecoglou's side have still often come out on top in the passing department with a 4-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League seeing them complete 90 more passes despite the lopsided scoreline.
While plenty of passing hasn't always translated to results for Celtic, they have found their feet under the Aussie having lost just one of their past 11 matches in all competitions.
Postecoglou made it clear when he arrived in Scotland that he wanted to build a team that's exciting to watch and so far the stats suggest he's doing just that.
"I see other teams playing aggressive, attacking football, they are games I switch on and watch. They are the football teams I want to produce," he said in August.
“What the terminology is around that, that’s for others to judge. But I’ve yet to meet a group of supporters or a group of players who don’t enjoy scoring goals, and creating fantastic moments. That’s why I concentrate on that style of football.
"I’d rather play Barcelona and out-possess them and out-score them than not. If you do that and you lose five-zero, people will be coming for you saying, ‘Why didn’t you play more pragmatically?’
"It’s just not the way I’m wired, and what I look for. I’d rather go down swinging then than hope to just stay on my feet. You know, it’s just my philosophy.
"There is no right or wrong way of doing it. But I do think that certain clubs have certain values. If you look back at this football club – I don’t need to tell you guys, you know this history better than me – the greatest successes have been built on teams that had belief; entertainers that played without fear. And I love that aspect of the game."