Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Barcelona scores on shooting quantity and quality

In spite of the fact that Xavi’s side are still trying to discover their finest form, there are some positive aspects of their play to highlight. They are the team who unleash the second most shots, with 16 on average per game. Key to the above stat is their quality, given that 39% of these shots are on target, placing them top of the tree in LALIGA EA Sports on this metric. These shots come from possessions packed with passes, but before that they need to win the ball back when they are out of possession. In terms of their proactivity in regaining possession, they are also top in the competition, as measured by recoveries per minute.

Remarkable Coach

Ancelotti remains top on this metric throughout the season

Since the start of this campaign, one of Real Madrid’s distinctive traits has been the way that they build-up the play. Los Blancos are the team who string together the most passes in the entire competition, registering the most passes per possession. And while they are the team who take the most shots, they also only need the fifth fewest shots to score. The accompanying graphic shows one of Real Madrid’s most elaborate passing sequences in the match against Villarreal. Here we can see the changes in direction and penetration which covered a large area of the pitch.

Key Player

Rodrygo’s impact extends way beyond goals

Rodrygo features in the most important attacking rankings of the competition as a whole. He comes in second on the most high-impact carries leading to a goal or a goalscoring opportunity, having amassed 23 in the season so far. He is also the player who plays the third most passes in attacking areas in LALIGA and registers the third most successful dribbles, with almost three good dribbles per game. These actions show that Rodrygo is both a team and an individual player, making him an instrumental component of his side’s attacking play. Not only is he racking up some outstanding individual stats, he is also helping his teammates to do the same.

The Match up

Girona v Atletico Madrid: a battle of efficiency

This match squares up the two most efficient sides in LALIGA. They are first and second among the teams who need the fewest shots to score a goal. On average, Girona need 5.7 and Atletico Madrid 6.3. In this analysis, we should stress that neither team are prolific shot-takers, with neither of them making the top five in terms of the number of shots attempted. The graphic and the video for this section show Girona’s goals, which areas they score them from, and how far out from goal they are.

Remember his name

Gorka Guruzeta, while proficient in front of goal, stands out for his defending skills

He is the fourth highest goalscorer in the league and also the player who takes the sixth most shots. This brilliant striker guarantees Athletic Club the goals underlying the team’s impressive results, although here we pause for a moment to shine a light on his ball-winning and pressing abilities. He lies fourth in the competition among the players who press the most, with more than 27 pressures per game. This gives his team a massive boost, and when Guruzeta is on the pitch his team concede fewer goals. The graphic shows the player’s pressing in the opposition half.

Metric of the week

Opponents beaten per pass

This metric indicates how quickly a team moves the ball forward in attacking phases of play. In general terms, a high figure for this stat helps us to identify teams who look to attack quickly. These teams produce direct passes seeking to get into the final third and which therefore take many players in the defensive block out of the game. On the other hand, a lower figure is indicative of a team who prioritise control. The video shows how Barcelona beat opponents with their passes.

Beyond Stats ofrece métricas increíbles en la industria del fútbol: no se limita a recopilar los datos que se suelen usar para los análisis estándarque llegan a los aficionados, sino que va más allá, recopilando una cantidad ingente de información durante el partido, casi en tiempo real, gracias a la herramienta Mediacoach de LALIGA, que es capaz de revelar nuevas percepciones sobre el juego a un nivel más profundo permitiendo trazar patrones y obtener proyecciones de futuro.

Los datos brutos recogidos (Raw Data) son tratados para su análisis por un equipo multidisciplinar compuesto por expertos en Business Intelligence & Analytics y análisis futbolístico de LALIGA a través de procesos de Machine Learning e Inteligencia Artificial que se han hecho posibles gracias a la tecnología Azure que provee Microsoft, capaz de procesar grandes volúmenes de datos. Tras su tratamiento, se genera un algoritmo que permite la visualización de las métricas que llegan al aficionado por medio de Beyond Stats. Estas estadísticas permiten a los aficionados entender mejor por qué su equipo ha ganado un partido, lo ha perdido, o tener una visión panorámica de su rendimiento y expectativas, lo que permite una inmersión inédita en la experiencia del espectador de fútbol.

En todos los estadios de LALIGA encontramos hasta dieciséis cámaras perimetrales fijas de alta resolución para el tracking óptico que siguen en el terreno de juego la situación de jugadores, árbitros y balón, recogiendo datos físicos y técnico-tácticos a un ritmo vertiginoso de 25 veces por segundo.

“Encontramos hasta dieciséis cámaras perimetrales fijas de alta resolución para el tracking óptico”

Estos dispositivos permiten la integración, a través de la herramienta de análisis Mediacoach, de dos tecnologías: tracking y eventing. El tracking se apoya en la información de seguimiento recogida por las cámaras perimetrales del estadio, y permite elaborar métricas como las referidas a distancia recorrida, velocidad máxima y media, o número de sprints. Mediante el eventing se registran los eventos más objetivables: número de pases, córners, o faltas cometidas y recibidas. La información captada a través de tracking y eventing se integra y almacena en el sistema formando un conjunto de datos de gran volumen.