Relationship Between Maximal Aerobic Power And Performance Of A Professional Soccer Team

The literature on soccer reports that professional players have values of 55 to 71 ml/kg/min for maximal aerobic power (V0₂ max) and it is commonly agreed that factors other than V0₂ max are decisive for success (Ekblom f 1986; Reilly, 1990). Furthermore the data so far published always refer to different teams; longitudinal studies analyzing the relationship between V0₂ max and performance are unknown. The aim of this paper was to analyze this relationship of an international level team (Atalanta BC) participating in the 1st division of the Italian national league between 1984 and 1990.