Effects of an intense run of matches on blood biomarker and physical performance in professional soccer athletes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v85.119903Keywords:
Creatine kinase, Football, Global positioning system, Muscle damage, PerformanceAbstract
Introduction: High-level soccer players frequently face congested match schedules, which limits recovery and increases muscle damage.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a congested match period compared to a non-congested period on creatine kinase levels and physical performance metrics.
Methodology: Ten professional athletes were monitored over two thirty-day periods. Blood creatine kinase concentrations and global positioning system physical performance metrics were collected and compared.
Results: Blood creatine kinase concentrations were significantly higher during the congested period than in the non-congested period at twenty-four hours and forty-eight hours post-match. A significant positive correlation was found between total playing minutes and creatine kinase levels, whereas global positioning system physical performance metrics showed no significant differences.
Discussion: While previous literature reported performance declines during congested schedules, the results of this investigation aligned with studies showing maintained physical performance when tactical player rotation and adequate physical conditioning were implemented.
Conclusions: The congested period significantly increased internal load and muscle damage, which correlated directly with cumulative playing minutes rather than match count. However, external physical performance remains unaffected, indicating that strategic player rotation can successfully mitigate performance decrements.
References
Andersson, H., Raastad, T., Nilsson, J., Paulsen, G., Garthe, I., & Kadi, F. (2008). Neuromuscular fatigue and recovery in elite female soccer: Effects of active recovery. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40(2), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e31815b8497
Andrzejewski, M., Konarski, J. M., Chmura, J., & Pluta, B. (2014). Changes in the activity profiles of soc-cer players over a three-match training micro cycle. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 14(3), 814–828. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2014.11868760
Botelho, R., Abad, C. C. C., Spadari, R. C., Winckler, C., Garcia, M. C., & Guerra, R. L. F. (2022). Psychophys-iological stress markers during preseason among elite female soccer players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 36(6), 1648–1654. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003702
Carling, C., McCall, A., Le Gall, F., & Dupont, G. (2016). The impact of short periods of match congestion on injury risk and patterns in an elite football club. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(12), 764–768. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2015-095501
Castillo, D., et al. (2023). External match load and physical performance in professional soccer players during congested match periods. Retos: Nuevas Tendencias en Educación Física, Deportes y Recreación, 48, 215–222.
Chou, T.-Y., Nosaka, K., & Chen, T. C. (2021). Muscle damage and performance after single and multiple simulated matches in university elite female soccer players. Frontiers in Physiology, 18 [ou 12, artigo ID 646141]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.646141
Dellal, A., Lago-Peñas, C., Rey, E., Chamari, K., & Orhant, E. (2015). The effects of a congested fixture period on physical performance, technical activity and injury rate during matches in a profes-sional soccer team. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 49(6), 390–394. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2012-091290
Diaz-García, J., et al. (2024). Physical training and external load management for young athletes. Retos: Nuevas Tendencias en Educación Física, Deportes y Recreación, 56, 663–671. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v56.105895
Djaoui, L., Owen, A., Newton, M., Nikolaidis, P. T., Dellal, A., & Chamari, K. (2022). Effects of congested match periods on acceleration and deceleration profiles in professional soccer. Biology of Sport, 39(2), 307–317. https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2022.103725
Ekstrand, J., Hägglund, M., & Waldén, M. (2011). Injury incidence and injury patterns in professional football: The UEFA injury study. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 45(7), 553–558. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2009.060582
Finsterer, J., & Drory, V. E. (2016). Wet, volatile, and dry biomarkers of exercise-induced muscle fa-tigue. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 17(1), Article 40. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-016-0869-2
Folgado, H., Duarte, R., Marques, P., & Sampaio, J. (2015). The effects of congested fixtures period on tactical and physical performance in elite football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33(12), 1238–1247. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2015.1022576
García-Romero-Pérez, Á., Ordonez, F. J., Reyes-Gil, F., Rodríguez-López, E. S., & Oliva-Pascual-Vaca, Á. (2021). Muscle damage biomarkers in congestion weeks in English Premier League soccer players: A prospective study for two consecutive seasons. International Journal of Environmen-tal Research and Public Health, 18(15), Article 7960. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157960
Hacker, S., Reichel, T., Hecksteden, A., Schönfelder, M., & Wackerhage, H. (2021). Recovery-stress re-sponse of blood-based biomarkers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11), Article 5776. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115776
Jones, R. N., Greig, M., Mawéné, Y., Barrow, J., & Page, R. M. (2019). The influence of short-term fixture congestion on position specific match running performance and external loading patterns in English professional soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences, 37(12), 1338–1346. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2018.1558563
Julian, R., Page, R. M., & Harper, L. D. (2021). The effect of fixture congestion on performance during professional male soccer match-play: A systematic critical review with meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 51(2), 255–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01359-9
Modric, T., et al. (2023). High-intensity running and acceleration profiles in professional football matches. Retos: Nuevas Tendencias en Educación Física, Deportes y Recreación, 49, 110–118.
Mohr, M., Draganidis, D., Chatzinikolaou, A., Fatouros, I. G., Jamurtas, A. Z., Loules, G., Tsoukas, D., Chat-zigeorgiou, A., Avloniti, A., & Krustrup, P. (2016). Muscle damage, inflammatory, immune and performance responses to three football games in 1 week in competitive male players. Europe-an Journal of Applied Physiology, 116(1), 179–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3245-2
Mota, G. R., Dos Santos, I. A., Arriel, R. A., & Marocolo, M. (2020). Is it high time to increase elite soccer substitutions permanently? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), Article 7008. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197008
Nowakowska, A., Kostrzewa-Nowak, D., Buryta, R., & Nowak, R. (2019). Blood biomarkers of recovery efficiency in soccer players. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(18), Article 3279. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183279
Póvoas, S., Ascensão, A., Magalhães, J., Seabra, A., Castagna, C., Varley, M. C., Johnston, R. D., & Rebelo, A. N. (2022). Technical match actions and plasma stress markers in elite female football players during an official FIFA Tournament. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 32(S1), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13878
Rabita, G., Dorel, S., Slawinski, J., Sàez-de-Villarreal, E., Couturier, A., Samozino, P., & Morin, J. B. (2015). Sprint mechanics in world-class athletes: A new insight into the limits of human locomotion. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 25(5), 583–594. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12389
Reichel, T., Boßlau, T. K., Palmowski, J., Wasserfurth, P., Krüger, K., & Reichel, S. (2020). Reliability and suitability of physiological exercise response and recovery markers. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 12690. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69280-9
Selmi, O., Ouergui, I., Levitt, D. E., Marzouki, H., Knechtle, B., Nikolaidis, P. T., & Bouassida, A. (2022). Training, psychometric status, biological markers and neuromuscular fatigue in soccer. Biology of Sport, 39(2), 319–327. https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2022.104065
Souglis, A., Bogdanis, G. C., Chryssanthopoulos, C., Apostolidis, N., & Geladas, N. D. (2018). Time course of oxidative stress, inflammation, and muscle damage markers for 5 days after a soccer match: Effects of sex and playing position. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 32(7), 2045–2054. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002436
Zanetti, V., Aoki, M. S., Bradley, P., Carling, C., Marino, T. K., & Moreira, A. (2021). Running performance and hormonal, maturity and physical variables in starting and non-starting elite U14 soccer players during a congested match schedule. Journal of Human Kinetics, 80(1), 287–295. https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2021-0096
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Dener Álex Tavares Martins, Jonathan Elias Rodrigues Martins, Francisco Sérgio Lopes Vasconcelos-Filho, Paula Matias Soares, Júlio Cesar Gomes Silva, Vânia Marilande Ceccatto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and ensure the magazine the right to be the first publication of the work as licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of authorship of the work and the initial publication in this magazine.
- Authors can establish separate additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (eg, to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Is allowed and authors are encouraged to disseminate their work electronically (eg, in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as to a subpoena more Early and more of published work (See The Effect of Open Access) (in English).
This journal provides immediate open access to its content (BOAI, http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm#openaccess) on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The authors may download the papers from the journal website, or will be provided with the PDF version of the article via e-mail.
