Biology of Sport

Tell me the match context, and I’ll tell you how much the team will run, or should have run: an update and divisional extension of a predictive running model for Spanish professional football

  1. University of the Basque Country, (UPV/EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

  2. Department of Competitions and Mediacoach, LaLiga, Madrid, Spain

  3. INEFC Lleida. University of Lleida, Spain

Biol Sport. 2026;43:1725–1733

Data publikacji online: 2026/09/11
Article file
120_06010_Article (1).pdf
Confronting perimenopausal women’s knowledge of coronary heart disease with their health behaviours. Controversial role of hormone replacement therapy in the protection of coronary heart disease
  1. Ponce-Bordón JC, López-Gajardo MA, Lobo-Triviño D, Pulido JJ, García-Calvo T. Longitudinal match running performance analysis of soccer in professional European leagues: a systematic review. Int J Perform Anal Sport. 2024;24(6):601–625.
  2. Barnes C, Archer DT, Hogg B, Bush M, Bradley PS. The evolution of physical and technical performance parameters in the English Premier League. Int J Sports Med. 2014; 35(13):1095–1100.
  3. Bush M, Barnes C, Archer DT, Hogg B, Bradley PS. Evolution of match performance parameters for various playing positions in the English Premier League. Hum Mov Sci. 2015; 39:1–11.
  4. Allen T, Taberner M, Zhilkin M, Rhodes D. Running more than before? The evolution of running load demands in the English Premier League. Int J Sports Sci Coach. 2023; 19(2):779–787.
  5. Allen T, Taberner M, Zhilkin M, Green M. Evolving running load demands and fixture congestion in the English Premier League: a decade of insights from 2015/2016 to 2024/2025. Br J Sports Med. 2025; 59:1643–1654.
  6. Morgans R, Orme P, Bezuglov E, Di Michele R. Technical and physical performance across five consecutive seasons in elite European soccer. Int J Sports Sci Coach. 2023; 18(3):839–847.
  7. García-Calvo T, Ponce-Bordón JC, Pons E, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, Raya-González J. High metabolic load distance in professional soccer according to competitive level and playing positions. PeerJ. 2022; 10:e13318.
  8. Lago-Peñas C, García-Calvo T, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, Ponce-Bordón JC. Match running performance is similar in lower and higher competitive standards of Spanish professional soccer accounting for effective playing time. Biol Sport. 2024; 41(3):39–46.
  9. Garrosa FN, Saiz JM, Quintero-Illera JL, Rubio-López J, López-Del Campo R, Jiménez-Rubio S. Acceleration-speed profiles in LaLiga: the influence of initial running speed and differences between positional roles in elite football players. Biol Sport. 2025; 42(4):125–133.
  10. Castellano J, Errekagorri I, Los Arcos A, Casamichana D, Martín-García A, Clemente FM, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, Echeazarra I. Tell me how and where you play football and I’ll tell you how much you have to run. Biol Sport. 2022; 39(3):607–614.
  11. Ponce-Bordón JC, Lobo-Triviño D, Rubio-Morales A, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, López-Gajardo MA. The effect of the Video Assistant Referee system implementation on match physical demands in the Spanish LaLiga. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(9):5125.
  12. Guerrero-Calderón B, Owen A, Morcillo JA, Castillo-Rodríguez A. How does the mid-season coach change affect physical performance on top soccer players? Physiol Behav. 2021; 232:113328.
  13. Prieto-González P, Martín V, Pacholek M, Sal-de-Rellán A, Marcelino R. Impact of offensive team variables on goal scoring in the first division of the Spanish soccer league: a comprehensive 10-year study. Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):25231.
  14. Ferrandis J, Del Coso J, Moreno-Pérez V, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, González-Rodenas J. Changes in physical and technical match performance variables in football players promoted from the Spanish Second Division to the First Division. Biol Sport. 2024; 41(1):217–225.
  15. Errekagorri I, Castellano J, Echeazarra I, López-Del Campo R, Resta R. A longitudinal analysis of technical-tactical and physical performance of the teams in the Spanish LaLiga Santander: an eight-season study. Biol Sport. 2022; 39(2):389–396.
  16. Castellano J, Bellmunt S, Resta R, López-Del Campo R, Casamichana D. Multivariate analysis of teams’ physical performances in official football matches in LaLiga 2023–24. Biol Sport. 2025; 42(3):169–176.
  17. García-Calvo T, Lobo-Triviño D, Raya-González J, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, Pons E, Ponce-Bordón JC. The evolution of match running performance in the top two Spanish soccer leagues: a comparative four-season study. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2025; 10(1):27.
  18. Pons E, Ponce-Bordón JC, Díaz-García J, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, Peirau X, García-Calvo T. A longitudinal exploration of match running performance during a football match in the Spanish La Liga: a four-season study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(3):1133.
  19. Castellano J, López-Del Campo R, Hileno R. Tell me how much your opponent team runs and I will tell you how much you should run: a predictive model applied to Spanish high-level football. Biol Sport. 2024; 41(2):275–283.
  20. Liu H, Hopkins W, Gómez-Ruano MA, Molinuevo JS. Inter-operator reliability of live football match statistics from OPTA Sportsdata. Int J Perform Anal Sport. 2013; 13(3):803–821.
  21. Linke D, Link D, Lames M. Football-specific validity of TRACAB’s optical video tracking systems. PLoS One. 2020; 15(3):e0230179.
  22. Pons E, García-Calvo T, Resta R, Blanco-Pita H, López-Del Campo R, Díaz-García J, Pulido JJ. A comparison of a GPS device and a multi-camera video technology during official soccer matches: agreement between systems. PLoS One. 2019; 14(8):e0220729.
  23. Thompson B. Why won’t stepwise methods die? Meas Eval Couns Dev. 1989; 21(4):146–148.
  24. Kleinbaum DG, Kupper LL, Nizam A, Rosenberg ES. Applied regression analysis and other multivariable methods. 5th ed. Boston (MA): Cengage Learning; 2014.
  25. Parlebas P. Juego, Deportes y Sociedades. Madrid: Editorial Paidotribo; 2001.
  26. Altmann S, Forcher L, Woll A, Härtel S. Effective playing time affects physical match performance in soccer: An analysis according to playing position. Biol Sport. 2023; 40(4):967–973.
  27. González-Rodenas J, Moreno-Pérez V, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, Del Coso J. Technical and tactical evolution of the offensive team sequences in LaLiga between 2008 and 2021. Is Spanish football now a more associative game? Biol Sport. 2024; 41(2):105–113.
  28. Castellano J. Relación entre indicadores de rendimiento y el éxito en el fútbol profesional. Rev Iberoam Psicol Ejerc Deporte. 2018; 13(1):41–49.
  29. Errekagorri I, López-Del Campo R, Resta R, Castellano J. Performance Analysis of the Spanish Men’s Top and Second Professional Football Division Teams during Eight Consecutive Seasons. Sensors (Basel). 2023; 23(22):9115.
Copyright: Institute of Sport. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
Share
without publication fees