bench- warmers?
Who are soccer’s
We’ve looked back at the last three seasons to work out which outfield players have spent the most time sitting on the substitutes’ bench
First Division A
Ligue 1
Bundesliga
Serie A
La Liga
Premier League
MLS
Most time spent on the bench
Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the following outfield players have been the league’s most notable substitutes
Juan Mata is leaving Manchester United this summer having spent over 5 days in the last 3 years sitting on the sidelines
Juan Mata Dwight Gayle Hamza Choudhury Kevin Long Divock Origi
Highest share of minutes spent on the bench
Liverpool youngster Neco Williams is the only player who has spent over 90% of his time in the first team squad on the bench
Neco Williams Phil Jagielka Divock Origi Ki-Jana Hoever Keinan Davis
90.9% 87.0% 84.8% 84.4% 83.2%
bench- warmers
Man Utd Newcastle Leicester Burnley Liverpool
x180
5 days 3 hours 41 mins 5 days 19 mins 4 days 23 hours 49 mins 4 days 16 hours 32 mins 4 days 14 hours 32 mins
Liverpool Sheff Utd Liverpool Wolves, Liverpool Aston Villa
5,200 / 5,718 5,637 / 6,478 6,632 / 7,825 5,305 / 6,286 4,857 / 5,838
Minimum 50 matchday squads
Highest share of matchday squads as an unused substitute
Burnley defender Phil Bardsley has been named as a substitute in 66 Premier League matches over the last 3 seasons, and only once made it onto the pitch
Phil Bardsley Martin Kelly Kevin Long Max Kilman Yann Valery
Burnley Crystal Palace Burnley Wolves Southampton
Minimum 50 matchday squads as a substitute
98.5% 95.5% 93.0% 91.1% 90.0%
65 / 66 64 / 67 66 / 71 51 / 56 45 / 50
Highest share of matchday squads as a substitute who came on
However Bardsley’s team-mate Jay Rodriguez has had the opposite experience - when named as a substitute he has almost always ended up joining the action
Jay Rodriguez Lucas Moura Matěj Vydra James Milner Christian Benteke
Burnley Tottenham Burnley Liverpool Crystal Palace
91.1% 78.8% 75.0% 71.7% 64.2%
51 / 56 41 / 52 42 / 56 43 / 60 34 / 53
Levante’s veteran right back Coke has spent over 6 days sitting on the bench over the last 3 seasons
Coke Carlos Bacca Manuel Vallejo Ricard Puig Diego Lainez
Forward Ivan Šaponjić left Atleti in January and it’s not hard to see why: over 90% of his time in the matchday squad was spent on the bench
Ivan Šaponjić John Guidetti Jon Pacheco Miguel Baeza Quique González
91.8% 90.0% 89.4% 88.2% 87.4%
Levante Granada, Villarreal Alavés, Valencia Barcelona Betis
x160
6 days 1 hour 26 mins 5 days 5 hours 7 mins 5 days 2 hours 8 mins 5 days 36 mins 4 days 21 hours 17 mins
Atlético, Cádiz Alavés Sociedad Celta Vigo Eibar
4,880 / 5,317 6,100 / 6,775 4,589 / 5,134 4,690 / 5,316 5,323 / 6,089
Unai Núñez lost his place in the Bilbao defence last season and has not been a popular choice from the bench either
Unai Núñez Ivan Šaponjić Unai García Samuel Umtiti Tachi
Bilbao Atlético, Cádiz Osasuna Barcelona Alavés
86.9% 84.6% 83.3% 82.8% 82.3%
53 / 61 44 / 52 45 / 54 48 / 58 51 / 62
Núñez’s team-mate Asier Villalibre is often used as an impact sub, coming on in all but 7 of the matches he has started on the bench
Asier Villalibre Takefusa Kubo Jorge Molina Ángel Rodríguez Roberto Torres
Bilbao Mallorca, Getafe, Villarreal Granada, Getafe Mallorca, Getafe Osasuna
87.3% 83.0% 82.7% 81.8% 78.2%
48 / 55 44 / 53 43 / 52 54 / 66 43 / 55
Former Inter captain Andrea Ranocchia has recently signed for newly-promoted Monza, having spent more than 6 days on the bench in the last 3 seasons
Andrea Ranocchia Federico Peluso Matteo Gabbia Francesco Magnanelli Ilija Nestorovski
Daniel Maldini has so far been unable to replicate father Paolo’s exploits for Milan, remaining a substitute for 96% of his time in the matchday squad
Daniel Maldini Aleksa Terzić Vasco Regini Andri Baldursson Riccardo Calafiori
96.3% 95.0% 94.9% 91.7% 91.6%
Inter Sassuolo Milan Sassuolo Udinese
x155
6 days 3 hours 35 mins 5 days 23 hours 22 mins 5 days 4 hours 46 mins 4 days 23 hours 13 mins 4 days 20 hours 1 min
Milan Fiorentina, Empoli Sampdoria, Parma Bologna Genoa, Roma
6,320 / 6,560 6,235 / 6,564 6,289 / 6,625 4,491 / 4,894 4,492 / 4,901
As well as spending the most minutes on the bench, centre-back Ranocchia has remained an unused substitute on 89 occasions in three years
Andrea Ranocchia Vasco Regini Matteo Gabbia Lucien Agoumé Mert Çetin
Inter Sampdoria, Parma Milan Inter, Spezia Verona, Roma
94.7% 92.4% 92.4% 88.0% 87.9%
89 / 94 61 / 66 73 / 79 44 / 50 58 / 66
Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi almost always comes off the bench for Atalanta when left out of the starting XI
Ruslan Malinovskyi Grégoire Defrel Luis Muriel Goran Pandev Eljif Elmas
Atalanta Sassuolo Atalanta Parma, Genoa Napoli
94.0% 90.7% 90.0% 86.0% 82.9%
47 / 50 49 / 54 54 / 60 43 / 50 68 / 82
Gladbach midfielder László Bénes has spent the most time on the bench in the Bundesliga in the previous 3 seasons
László Bénes Patrick Herrmann Timothy Chandler Tony Jantschke Stefan Ilsanker
Brazilian Reinier Jesus is due to return to Real Madrid this summer, with just 500 minutes of playing time to show for his two-year loan at Dortmund
Reinier Jesus Bartosz Białek Marc Roca Marek Suchý Daniel Ginczek
91.0% 89.0% 87.6% 85.1% 81.2%
Gladbach, Augsburg Gladbach Frankfurt Gladbach Frankfurt, Leipzig
x215
4 days 8 hours 50 mins 4 days 7 hours 49 mins 4 days 7 hours 37 mins 4 days 1 hour 36 mins 3 days 22 hours 28 mins
Dortmund Wolfsburg Bayern Augsburg Wolfsburg
4,950 / 5,441 4,235 / 4,759 4,174 / 4,764 4,221 / 4,963 4,724 / 5,815
Schalke midfielder Levent Mercan was an unused substitute on 41 occasions in two seasons before his loan to Turkish club Fatih Karagümrük
Levent Mercan Marek Suchý Tony Jantschke Marc Roca Dominique Heintz
Schalke Augsburg Gladbach Bayern Freiburg, Union Berlin
Minimum 40 matchday squads as a substitute
89.1% 88.9% 82.0% 79.5% 78.6%
41 / 46 40 / 45 50 / 61 35 / 44 33 / 42
Veteran striker Nils Petersen has largely been used as an impact sub by Freiburg in the last 3 seasons
Nils Petersen Yussuf Poulsen Sergio Córdova Davie Selke Ádám Szalai
Freiburg Leipzig Augsburg, Bielefeld Hertha, Bremen Mainz
89.1% 85.7% 82.5% 82.1% 81.4%
49 / 55 36 / 42 33 / 40 46 / 56 35 / 43
Versatile full-back Jérémy Pied edges out young winger Isaac Lihadji as Ligue 1’s most prominent substitute since 2019-20
Jérémy Pied Isaac Lihadji Saîf-Eddine Khaoui Jean Lucas Hugo Magnetti
Among players to have featured in 50 matchday squads, former Montpellier striker Petar Škuletić spent the highest percentage of minutes on the bench
Petar Škuletić Isaac Lihadji Jérémy Pied Corentin Jean Renaud Emond
93.4% 93.2% 88.4% 85.6% 82.9%
Lille Lille, Marseille Clermont, Marseille Monaco, Brest, Lyon Brest
x230
4 days 3 hours 29 mins 4 days 3 hours 16 mins 3 days 22 hours 25 mins 3 days 22 hours 4 mins 3 days 18 hours 51 mins
Montpellier Lille, Marseille Lille Lens, Toulouse Nantes
4,539 / 4,860 5,856 / 6,390 5,969 / 6,750 4,854 / 5,670 3,954 / 4,770
Lille’s Pied has remained rooted to the bench on 63 out of the 66 occasions he has been named as substitute in the last 3 years
Jérémy Pied Dario Maresic Ludovic Baal Abdoulaye Bamba Mateo Pavlović
Lille Reims Brest Angers Angers
95.5% 92.9% 90.0% 88.1% 87.8%
63 / 66 39 / 42 45 / 50 37 / 42 36 / 41
Forward Arnaud Nordin, who will join Montpellier this summer when his St Étienne contract expires, almost always comes on after starting on the bench
Arnaud Nordin Stephane Bahoken Jérémy Le Douaron Adrian Grbic Ignatius Ganago
St Étienne Angers Brest Lorient, Clermont Lens, Nice
92.5% 90.5% 87.8% 85.7% 84.8%
37 / 40 38 / 42 36 / 41 36 / 42 39 / 46
Centre-back Michiel Jonckheere has remained a substitute for 4 hours longer than anyone else in the Belgian top flight in the last 3 seasons
Michiel Jonckheere Onur Kaya Gaëtan Hendrickx Bruno Godeau Felipe Avenatti
Midfielder Gaëtan Hendrickx has dropped down a division in a bid for more minutes having spent most of his time at Kortrijk and Charleroi on the bench
Gaëtan Hendrickx Indy Boonen Luca Oyen Jannes Van Hecke Marco Kana
86.9% 82.8% 77.0% 75.2% 69.3%
Kortrijk, Oostende Mechelen Kortrijk, Charleroi Gent, Mouscron
x250
3 days 18 hours 56 mins 3 days 14 hours 44 mins 3 days 14 hours 4 mins 3 days 2 hours 57 mins 3 days 1 hour 12 mins
Kortrijk, Charleroi Oostende Genk
5,164 / 5,942 4,034 / 4,874 4,289 / 5,572 3,598 / 4,781 3,722 / 5,369
Mechelen’s Jannes Van Hecke is rarely called upon from the bench, as was the case at previous club Zulte-Waregem
Jannes Van Hecke Killian Sardella Dries Wouters Federico Ricca Bruno Godeau
Anderlecht Mechelen, Genk Club Brugge Gent, Mouscron
Minimum 30 matchday squads as a substitute
78.9% 75.8% 75.8% 75.6% 75.5%
30 / 38 25 / 33 25 / 33 34 / 45 37 / 49
Ivorian winger Konan N'Dri always tends to feature for Eupen, making 29 out of a possible 30 substitute appearances
Konan N'Dri Francis Amuzu Igor de Camargo Jovan Stojanović Mehdi Carcela-González
Eupen Anderlecht Mechelen Kortrijk Standard
96.7% 91.7% 84.4% 82.5% 82.0%
29 / 30 44 / 48 27 / 32 33 / 40 41 / 50
Beerschot, Antwerp, Standard
Anderlecht
Zulte-Waregem, Mechelen
Mechelen, Zulte-Waregem
Over the last 3 years, the following outfield players have been the league’s most notable substitutes
Uruguayan Nicolás Mezquida has racked up more than 4 days of bench time for Colorado since the middle of 2019
Nicolás Mezquida Emmanuel Boateng Scott Caldwell Jalil Anibaba AJ DeLaGarza
Left-back Mikey Ambrose has struggled for MLS game time, spending 92% of matchday minutes on the bench across spells at Atlanta and Inter Miami
Mikey Ambrose Tony Rocha Alex DeJohn Drew Moor Griffin Yow
91.9% 87.4% 86.0% 83.7% 82.1%
Colorado
4 days 17 mins 3 days 22 hours 17 mins 3 days 20 hours 18 mins 3 days 19 hours 13 mins 3 days 18 hours 8 mins
Atlanta, Inter Miami New York City Atlanta, Orlando Colorado, Toronto DC United
4,676 / 5,088 5,126 / 5,867 4,306 / 5,010 5,297 / 6,328 4,929 / 6,002
French centre-half Aurélien Collin was largely a spectator for Philadelphia before retiring at the end of the 2021 season
Aurélien Collin Kaveh Rad Stuart Findlay AJ DeLaGarza Eric Miller
Philadelphia Sporting KC Philadelphia
100.0% 93.0% 92.5% 90.9% 90.0%
40 / 40 40 / 43 37 / 40 50 / 55 36 / 40
Fan’s favourite Tesho Akindele has rarely remained out of the action for Orlando, even when deprived of a starting berth
Tesho Akindele Shea Salinas Brandon Vazquez Danny Musovski Bradley Wright-Phillips
Orlando San Jose Cincinnati, Atlanta LAFC
NE Revolution, Columbus, DC United, LA Galaxy
Real Salt Lake, NE Revolution
Columbus, Nashville, NE Revolution
NE Revolution, Inter Miami, Houston
Nashville, New York City, Minnesota
Columbus, LAFC, NY Red Bulls
