Five key technical variables in UEFA Cup Finals: Tournament and playing position effects
Keywords:
Game performance, soccer, technical activities, match analysis, UEFA tournamentsAbstract
Aim: This study aimed to comparatively examine the technical performance of players in the finals of three major UEFA club competitions, such as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Conference League, with particular emphasis on playing position. Method: A total of 62 professional male soccer players who played at least 45 minutes in these finals were included. Players were classified as forwards (n = 7), midfielders (n = 31), and defenders (n = 24) regarding their playing positions. Technical performance was assessed using five key activities: passing, total actions, challenges, tackles, and successful dribbles. The performance data were retrieved via the Sportsbase platform, an international data provider for professional sports competitions. Statistical analyses were conducted using R software, with significance set at p < 0.05. Data distribution was assessed using normality tests. The Kruskal–Wallis H test was used to examine differences across tournaments and playing positions. The Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction was applied for multiple comparisons across the five technical variables. Significant findings were examined using Dunn’s post-hoc test with Bonferroni adjustment, and effect sizes were quantified using epsilon-squared (ε²). Tournament × playing position interactions were examined using aligned rank transform (ART) ANOVA. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed among the three tournament finals for any of the five technical variables (p > 0.05). In contrast, significant differences were observed by playing position (p < 0.05). No significant tournament × playing position interactions were observed for any technical variable (p > 0.05). Conclusion: These findings suggest that technical performance in UEFA club competition finals may be more strongly associated with players’ positional roles than with the specific tournament. The findings may provide useful information for coaches and performance practitioners regarding player evaluation, position-specific training design, and technical performance analysis in elite soccer.
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