La influencia de la densidad competitiva en el resultado de los equipos en el fútbol de alto nivel. (The influence of a congested football calendar on the results obtained by teams in professional soccer).

Existe una considerable variacion en el numero de partidos disputados por los equipos de futbol durante una temporada. Los mejores equipos juegan varios partidos a la semana tanto en las competiciones domesticas como en la Liga de Campeones. Se ha especulado que un periodo cargado de partidos puede limitar el rendimiento de los conjuntos. En este trabajo se estudia el efecto que tiene para un equipo disputar un partido de la Liga de Campeones sobre el resultado alcanzado en el encuentro de la Liga Espanola en el fin de semana anterior. La muestra consiste en 374 partidos de la Liga Espanola jugados por los equipos que se encontraban simultaneamente disputando la Liga de Campeones entre las temporadas 2003-2004 y 2006- 2007. Los resultados alcanzados mediante un modelo logit multinomial permiten demostrar que disputar un partido de la Liga de Campeones no reduce la probabilidad de ganar en el partido de la Liga Espanola. Ademas se ha verificado que la probabilidad de ganar en el partido del fin de semana de la Liga Espanola es mayor cuando el partido de la Liga de Campeones a disputar pertenece a la fase de liguilla respecto a si se corresponde con el formato de eliminacion directa. Palabras clave : futbol; liga espanola; liga de campeones; logit multinomial; densidad competitive. Abstract There is a considerable variation in the number of matches played per season by clubs in the Spanish Soccer. The successful top clubs play several matches a week in domestic leagues as well as in the UEFA Champions League. It has been speculated that a period full of matches can lead to player fatigue which may result in underperformance. Using data from 374 matches of the Spanish Soccer League played from the 2003-04 to the 2006-07 seasons and according to the estimation based on logit multinomial this study shows that Spanish Champions League teams did not perform below their normal standard at the weekend when they played a Champions League match in the same week. However, playing a Champions League match in the knockout stages increased the probability of losing vs winnig in the matches of the Spanish Soccer League compared with playing a Champions League match in the group stage. Key words : result; soccer; spanish soccer league; UEFA champions league; logit multinomial; busy match schedule. doi:10.5232/ricyde2009.01409 Texto completo en PDF --------------------------------------------------------------------- Referencias/references Bray, S.R. (1999). The home advantage from an individual team perspective. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 11, 116-125. doi:10.1080/10413209908402954 Clarke, S.R. (2005). Home advantage in the Australian football league. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 375-385. doi:10.1080/02640410500074391 PMid:16089182 Clarke, S.R. y Norman, J.M. (1995). Home ground advantage of individual clubs in English soccer. The Statician, 44, 509-521. doi:10.2307/2348899 Ekstrand, J.; Gilquist, J.; Moller, M.; Oberg, B. y Liljedahl, S.O. (1983). Incidence of soccer injuries and their relation to training and team success. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 11, 63-67. doi:10.1177/036354658301100203 PMid:6846683 Ekstrand, J.; Walden, M. y Hagglund, M. (2004). A congested football calendar and the wellbeing of players: correlation between match exposure of European footballers before the World Cup 2002 and their injuries and performances during that World Cup. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38, 493-497. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2003.009134 PMid:15273193 PMCid:1724854 Jacklin, P.B. (2005). Temporal changes in home advantage in English football since the Second World War: What explains improved away performance? Journal of Sports Sciences, 23(7), 669-679. doi:10.1080/02640410400021948 PMid:16195016 Lago, C.; y Martin, R. (2007). Determinants of possession of the ball in soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(9), 969-974. doi:10.1080/02640410600944626 PMid:17497397 Pollard, R. (1986). Home advantage in soccer: a retrospective analysis. Journal of Sports Science, 4, 237-246. PMid:2884328 Pollard, R. (2006b). Worldwide regional variations in home advantage in association football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 231-240. doi:10.1080/02640410500141836 PMid:16368633 Schwartz, B. y Barsky, S.F. (1977). The home advantage. Social Forces, 55, 641-661. doi:10.2307/2577461 Walden, M.; Hagglund, M. y Ekstrand, J. (2005). UEFA Champions League study: a prospective study of injuries in professional football during the 2001-2002 season. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 39, 542-546. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2004.014571 PMid:16046340 PMCid:1725291 ---------------------------------------------------------------------