Analysis of Running Performance in the Offensive and Defensive Phases of the Game: Is It Associated with the Team Achievement in the UEFA Champions League?

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear authors,

thank you for your contribution and the novel distinction between of running performance in soccer between game situations with or without the ball and playing positions.

In general I can follow your line of reasoning very well. Therefore, I have rather a couple of questions or suggestions for you than points of criticism:

1. Your title contains inconsistent wording (attacking and defensive phase) - maybe you could use attacking and defending or offensive and defensive?
2. In your introduction you emphasize the importance of ball possession (lines 59-60) and accumulated analysis of different contests. I guess that those points are heavyly influenced by single teams (see Collet, 2013). Maybe you can comment on that?
3. Why did you choose the group stage of UCL for your investigation? In group stages there may be the problem of underperforming teams due to already reached goals.
4. Why did you choose the accumulated points at the end of the group stage as a variable for success? In that way you neglect the singularity of every single match and running performance of a successful team performed while losing a match may contribute to the behaviour of success, right? Addtionally, the cummulated points don't have the strong power of summing up a whole season when only so few matches are analysed.
5. Maybe the analysis of every single match and grouping in wins, draws and losses could be an alternative?
6. How did you define playing positions when teams played in different formations than shown in figure 1?
7. Did you consider possible differences that a team has spent in AP and DP? There may be a great influence on running performance if a team has very much or very little ball possession (also depending on the current opponent).
8. If I get your results right, it is recommendable for a team to run less when in possession of the ball. Could you comment on that?
9. I have problems to agree with your section 4.3. Your definition of success could be criticized (see point 4). In sports games, the behaviour is dependent of plenty of variables as the quality of the opponent, their playing style, the own playing style, the formations, etc. 

Kind regards

Author Response

Please find responses in the attached file. Thank you

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This study aimed to evaluate players’ running performance according to ball possession to determine its possible influence on success in the UEFA Champions League.

This study compares quantity at different running speeds with athletic success in soccer. Although it is clear that success in a team sport such as this depends on different variables, this study can help to find the variables most related to performance in it.

Only one observation:

• There are some references that do not respect the proper format, for example in line 75 or 79. Review the entire text.

Although there is some commentary on this in the limitations, one of the reasons why the results obtained in this study are not similar to the previously written literature may be largely due to the level of the teams in the different competitions analyzed. Have you ever compared the results of a team playing in its home league and in UEFA?

It is an interesting research, with great applicability and easy to read. A well written and structured text. Congratulations to the authors for their good work.

Author Response

Please find responses in the enclosed file. Thank you.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear authors,

I am deeply impressed by your replies. You definitely showed that you can reason your decisions precisely and understandable and on the other hands were open for additional suggestions.

I wished more submissions were handled like this.

All the best,
Christian Winter