The number of fixtures Celtic play in a season seems to rise year on year.
As well as completing a 38-game Scottish Premiership season, Brendan Rodgers’ Bhoys also more often than not reach the final of the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup.
Both of these competitions take Celtic’s workload up to over 50 games per season and that’s before European fixtures are added in.
This season, Celtic competed in ten matches in the Champions League against Europe’s elite including a two-legged fixture against Bayern Munich which was decided in extra-time.
The double-winning season was a gruelling task which led to Celtic captain Callum McGregor and Kasper Schmeichel appearing in the latest FIFPRO study charting professional football players’ current workload.
PFA Scotland laud Celtic duo Kasper Schmeichel and Callum McGregor
As every football may or may not know, the FIFA Club World Cup is currently going on in the USA. Celtic are not competing but the likes of Chelsea, Bayern Munich, PSG and Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich are.
And looking at what PFA Scotland posted on X, McGregor and Schmeichel have clocked up more first-team minutes this season than most of the participants.
PFA Scotland posted on X, “Although there isn’t any Scottish representation at the Club World Cup, recent data has found that players in the Scottish Premiership have clocked up some of the most minutes worldwide over the past five years.
“With more minutes played that some of the biggest names in the sport, a FIFPRO study released this month has put recovery time for professionals into focus.”
Where FIFPRO ranks Celtic’s Callum McGregor & Kasper Schmeichel to Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane
FIFPRO released figures earlier this month on how players across world football are overworked and McGregor, Schmeichel and Harry Kane all featured.
In the FIFPRO study, here are how the three players ranked:
| Player | Appearances | Total Minutes | Average minutes per game | Minutes between games | Km’s travelled |
| Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) | 57 | 4558 | 79.96 | 112.2 | 269 |
| Callum McGregor (Celtic) | 56 | 5158 | 92.11 | 126 | 258 |
| Kasper Schmeichel (Celtic) | 59 | 5790 | 98.14 | 108.2 | 194 |
It’s quite remarkable that McGregor has completed more minutes last season than Kane even though the Celtic captain has retired from international football.
And how Schmeichel is still doing what he’s doing at the age of 39 is sensational.
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