External load demands of UEFA Europa Conference League, domestic league, and cup matches in professional football: the prominent role of playing position

This study aimed to (1) compare positional external load metrics across three competition levels (Domestic League [SL], UEFA Europa Conference League [UECL], National Cup [TC]) and (2) compare the relative magnitude of the effects of playing position and competition level on physical demands in elite football. Twenty male outfield players (240 match observations) from a Turkish Super League club (age: 27 ± 5.47 years) were categorized into five positions: central defender (CD), full-backs (FB), wide midfielders (WMD), midfielders (MD), and forwards (FWD). External load (GNSS-derived) was monitored across 12 official matches during the 2022–2023 season. Relative metrics included total distance (TD·min⁻¹), high-intensity running distance (HIRD·min⁻¹), sprint distance (SD·min⁻¹), accelerations (ACC·min⁻¹), decelerations (DEC·min⁻¹), and high metabolic power distance (HMPD·min⁻¹). A two-way mixed-model ANOVA (between-subjects factor: playing position; within-subjects factor: competition level) assessed main effects and interactions, with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc tests ( α = 0.05). UECL matches elicited significantly higher external load than SL and TC across all positions ( p < 0.01). Playing position produced larger effects than competition level for five of the six parameters (position: η²ₚ = 0.16–0.69; competition level: η²ₚ = 0.10–0.45), the exception being ACC·min⁻¹. MD produced the highest TD·min⁻¹ (UECL: 124.65 ± 6.41 m·min⁻¹) and HMPD·min⁻¹ (UECL: 32.26 ± 2.95 m·min⁻¹), while FB and FWD exhibited peak HIRD·min⁻¹ in UECL (5.83 ± 0.92 and 5.51 ± 1.03 m·min⁻¹, respectively). The position × competition-level interaction was significant for TD·min⁻¹ and HIRD·min⁻¹ only; descriptively, FB showed the largest increase in SD·min⁻¹ (~ 52%) and FWD in HIRD·min⁻¹ (~ 16%) from SL to UECL. In what is, to our knowledge, the first positional analysis of external load in UECL matches, competition level and playing position jointly shaped external load, with UECL associated with the highest demands. Coaches are encouraged to prioritize position-specific conditioning and differentiated recovery after European fixtures.