Caffeine Supplementation does not Increase Performance on Professional Soccer Official Matches

The aim of the present study was to investigate the acute effect of caffeine supplementation on performance in official soccer matches. In double-blind, randomized crossover design, 13 professional soccer players performed two complete matches, with Caffeine (CAF) (6 mg/kg) and placebo (PLA) supplementation. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed that there was no effect of supplementation on the total distance covered (p = 0.536; ŋp² =0.033) or the total distance covered at different speeds (p = 0.453; ŋp² = 0.048), acceleration or deceleration (p = 0.387; ŋp² = 0.063) number of sprints (p = 0.521; µ² = 0.035) Heart Rate mean (p = 0.484; ŋp² = 0.042) Heart Rate maximum (p = 0.110; ŋp² = 0.199), Rate Perceived Effort (p = 0.151) or efficiency index (p = 0.480). Therefore, acute caffeine supplementation not effective to increase the performance of soccer players in official matches.