Performance Characteristics According to Playing Position in Elite Soccer

The paper provides a large-scale study into the motion characteristics of top class soccer players, during match play, according to playing position. Three hundred top-class outfield soccer players were monitored during 20 Spanish Premier League and 10 Champions League games using a computerized match analysis system (Amisco Pro, Nice, France). Total distance covered in five selected categories of intensity, and the mean percentage of playing time spent in each activity were analyzed according to playing position. Midfield players covered a significantly greater total distance (p