Running Patterns in LaLiga Before and After Suspension of the Competition Due to COVID-19

Abstract

In the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak (spring 2020), the first division of professional soccer in Spain (LaLiga) was suspended for 12 weeks as part of the lockdown imposed by the Spanish health authorities. Professional soccer players were confined to home for 8 weeks and then a retraining period of 4 weeks was set before the first competitive match. When competition was resumed, professional soccer teams competed in a congested calendar (11 matchdays in 39 days) while some in-game regulations were altered (up to 5 substitutions, refreshment pauses). The current research presents an analysis of running patterns before suspension and after resumption of LaLiga to determine how the lockdown affected players’ physical performance. To aid in this purpose, a pairwise comparison was performed of running patterns of the 2019–2020 vs. 2018–2019 season (i.e., control season). Using a two-way ANOVA (season x matchday), it was found that there was no main effect of the season on total running distance per match (P = 0.288) nor in the distances covered < 14.0 km/h (P = 0.294), at 21.0–23.9 km/h (P = 0.266), and at ≥ 24.0 km/h (P = 0.112). Only the distance at 14.0–20.9 km/h was affected by the season (P = 0.019) with a lower running distance on matchday 34 in the 2019–2020 vs. 2018–2019 season. The number of substitutions (from 2.9 to 4.5 substitutions per game; P < 0.001) and match duration (96 vs. 100 min; P < 0.001) significantly increased after resumption respect to the previous season. These data suggest that high-intensity running performance of professional soccer teams was maintained after the resumption of the competition while the alterations likely aided in the in-game regulations facilitated the maintenance of soccer physical performance.

LaLiga Lockdown: Conditioning Strategy and Adaptation to In-Game Regulations during COVID-19 Pandemic Prevented an Increase in Injury Incidence

“…Additionally, the adaptations of in-game regulations likely helped to counteract the deleterious effects of the congested calendar. Lastly, it is likely that the pattern of injury after the lockdown was similar to before the lockdown because the demands of the game, in terms of running distances, were also maintained, as recently shown by Brito de Souza et al [ 11 ]. In that study, running parameters in the last 11 fixtures of LaLiga 2019–2020 (matchdays 28 to 38) were compared to the period prior to the suspension (i.e., matchdays 1 to 27) and to the same last 11 fixtures of the previous season (2018–2019).…”

“…Hence, it is probable that the early resumption of the Bundesliga may have affected the high injury incidence reported in this competition during the first matchdays. Significantly, the time between matches in the Bundesliga to finish the nine matchdays left to complete the championship (one match every 4.6 days) was even longer than the time between matches in LaLiga (one match every 3.5 days) as there were 11 matchdays left to conclude the Spanish national league [ 11 ]. A final explanation is that the injury rate in the Bundesliga was unaffected after the lockdown, as suggested by the study by Krutsch et al [ 14 ].…”

“…A recovery period of at least 72 h was also set between matches to facilitate recovery due to the stress created by the congested calendar. A study by Brito de Souza et al [ 11 ] showed that the running distance covered by players competing in LaLiga was similar after the lockdown to the period before the lockdown and to the last competitive phase of the previous season. However, there is no information to determine if this fixture congestion, as with previously reported scenarios, affected the injury incidence in Spanish professional football [ 12 ].…”

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on match-activity and physical performance in professional football referees

“…However, recent data suggest that a team’s running performance in LaLiga was maintained after suspension of the competition due to COVID-19, to levels similar to before suspension and to the previous season [ 23 ]. The differences in the effect of the lockdown between referees and players may be explained by the fact that football authorities allowed up to five substitutions for the matchdays after lockdown [ 24 ], while no measure was established to reduce the physical strain of football referees during official matches. Hence, it seems that the decline in the activity metrics of professional football players in the Spanish professional leagues was a result of lower physical fitness due to the lockdown and it was not associated with a change in the demands of the game.…”

Integrating video tracking and GPS to quantify accelerations and decelerations in elite soccer

“…The MEDIACOACH system (Mediapro, Barcelona, Spain) consists of a series of super 4 K-High Dynamic Range cameras based on a positioning system (Tracab-ChyronHego Video Tracking System) that record from several angles and analyze X and Y positions for each player, thus providing real-time three-dimensional tracking. It has been used to quantify soccer demands in previous studies 26 – 28 . This device is also based on the correction of the semi-automatic VTS (the manual part of the process).…”