Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Assist providers shine from the get-go

Beyond Stats gets up and running for the season, and, as always, we kick things off with the Weekly Clip. In this section, we bring you a video, graphic or text about a key piece of action from LaLiga EA Sports. Dani Carvajal opened his campaign with an eye-catching performance in which he intercepted the ball countless times, made recoveries, anticipated play and laid on a goal, which sees him take his place amongst the front runners in the embryonic LaLiga assist charts. Defenders who play for teams that have a liking for combination play are key in the final third and we’ve already seen several of them defenders grab the headlines.

Remarkable Coach

Pellegrini gets off to a flyer

The Real Betis boss is a regular fixture in this section. Although his side’s playing philosophy will become clearer in the coming matchdays, we can see aspects of the Sevillians’ play that are reminiscent of last season’s system. The Verdiblancos emerged victorious, scored twice, created chances and registered a number of attempts on goal in a contest in which they made life very difficult for Villarreal.

However, we wish to spotlight one statistic: Betis had five attempts on goal, which places them second in the league standings in this area of the game. If Manuel Pellegrini’s charges manage to reproduce that sort of attacking form throughout the season, exciting times lie ahead at the Benito Villamarin.

Key Player

Bellingham earns rave reviews

Besides his goalscoring ability, the midfield ace was involved in a lot of the play in his first 90 minutes of LaLiga EA Sports action. He had a hand in over 50 attacking actions, generated progressive play, provided a key pass, registered two attempts on goal and got his name on the scoresheet. One particularly memorable moment was his run down the wing around the 60-minute mark at San Mames. Although it is still very much early days, the Englishman made a fine start to life in Real Madrid colours, and his 50% shot conversion rate is enough to land him a place in the top four of the LaLiga EA Sports standings in this department.

The Match up

Osasuna and Athletic Club vie for derby spoils

Jagoba Arrasate’s Osasuna claimed a 2-0 away win over Celta, while Athletic were beaten by the same scoreline at home to Real Madrid. As such, this Matchday 2 showdown is a meeting between two sides that enjoyed contrasting starts. If terms of Osasuna’s game, their attacking threat is well worth highlighting. The Pamplona-based outfit recorded 11 attempts on goal against the Galicians, five of which were on target, and their shot conversion ratio was just shy of 20%, which sees them clinch the final spot on the LaLiga podium in this facet of the game. This derby bout is sure to offer plenty of attempts on goal, bags of excitement and no shortage of attacking flair.

Remember his name

Goalscoring Guerra is just the man

Youngster Javi Guerra won over the Valencia faithful with a sublime strike against Real Valladolid towards the back end of last season that handed Ruben Baraja’s men a massive boost in their battle for survival. He has started this campaign where he left off, with another goal. He’s a midfielder who boasts good positioning, is able to build up play in the middle third, while also providing his team‑mates with passing options in and around the opposition’s box – as he showcased with his goal last weekend. While he may have only been on the pitch for 35 minutes, he was heavily involved during his cameo and converted a pass from Hugo Duro following in a move that began after Pablo Gozalbez had regained possession. He was in exactly the right place to apply the finishing touch and ensure that he features amongst the early-season pacesetters in the league goal charts. It remains to be seen whether Guerra can become a regular goalscorer throughout the campaign.

Metric of the week

High-impact actions

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.