Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Goalscoring streak is no coincidence.

In their last five outings, Athletic Club have racked up no fewer than 14 goals, an impressive return from a consistent side that excel in a series of very contrasting criteria. For example, the Basques occupy fifth spot for the number of high-impact actions, with which they score or create a goalscoring opportunity. The video features coverage of how these actions come about.

In fitness terms, Athletic lie top of the tree both for actions completed at over 21km/hr and 24km/hr. Of these actions, the Bilbao-based side excel in the defensive phase, showcasing their ability to recover possession quickly. In order to qualify under the metric, the above-mentioned speeds have to be maintained for at least 20 and 15 metres respectively. Meanwhile, Athletic also claim a podium place for distance covered.

Remarkable Coach

García Pimienta retains faith in philosophy that’s reaping rewards

Las Palmas are excelling in terms of both quantity and intensity levels. The islanders are the LALIGA’s bridesmaids for actions completed at over 28km/hr, amassing over 31 per game. What’s more, they also feature in the top two for the distance covered at that speed. If we shine the spotlight on Garcia Pimienta’s charges’ build-up play, we note that they sit in fourth position for the number of passes per possession, while they bag the final podium place for passes per minute. Their possession-based game is setting them apart, but it’s not easy to play the way they do, especially when we consider that they attract the most double-pressure passes in the competition. In other words, despite being one of the most pressed teams in the league, Las Palmas manage to remain faithful to their characteristic passing style.

Key Player

The numbers back João Felix’s seamless adaptation to life at Camp Nou

The Portuguese trickster’s presence in the opposition’s half goes hand in hand with the major influence he’s having in every game. He sits in sixth position in the league charts for the number of passes played in the attacking third, with almost 20 per match. The Atletico Madrid loanee also features amongst the top ten dribblers in the competition, recording more than two successful dribbles every time he crosses that white line. His presence and contribution in the final third also see him claim a place amongst the top five players for the number of attempts on target per match, with nearly two per match. These statistics reflect his status within the whole division, but in addition to these league-wide figures, he is also shining brightly in the Barça rankings, where he sits second in terms of high-impact actions, registering 2.7 per match, while taking second spot for the number of assists per game, recording 0.21.

The Match up

Girona take on Barcelona in contest of clear styles & parallels

The radar chart below reflects the areas in which the two teams excel, but we want to draw special attention to one aspect of Girona’s passing game that is making all the difference for the LALIGA high-flyers. The video reflects that Michel’s men are the league’s top dogs for the number of opponents beaten per pass. They are clearly a direct attacking team, with passes representing their main route to progress up the pitch. The team complete a high number of passes, which come in all shapes and sizes. The Catalans feature amongst the top five teams for both the number of passes per possession, with 5.7, and passes per minute (15.5).

The Montilivi-based outfit clinch third spot in the league pass completion stakes, and they lie in fourth for the number of passes played in the attacking third. A whole host of stats undersign the fact that Girona’s passing style is one of the most notable and impressive in the league. We round off our look at Michel’s charges by highlighting their first-place finish in the shot conversion stakes, which goes a long way to explaining their form in front of goal.

Remember his name

Brahim earns key-man status

In this section, we want to highlight the impact that the fresh-faced star is having in the Real Madrid squad. The exciting schemer has chalked up more passes in the final third than any of his teammates, averaging an impressive 22 per game. This statistic reflects the key role that Brahim plays in the attacking third, but his contribution extends far beyond his passing. The youngster also shines in terms of successful dribbles, with which he takes on opposition defenders while retaining possession, registering almost three per outing. This return places him in second place in the Los Blancos team charts and secures him a berth in the top 10 across the whole league. To round off our analysis, it is worth noting that the Malaga-born ace lies fourth in the Real Madrid standings for the number of attempts on target.

Metric of the week

Percentage of recoveries in the opposition’s half.

This metric is all about identifying the actions in which a team regain possession of the ball. Our analysis is split up into areas of the pitch, and we focus specifically on those in the opposition’s half. Once we have obtained this information, a percentage figure is calculated to tell us what share of the total number of recoveries take place in the opposition’s half. This data offers a good insight into a team’s on-field positioning, not only in terms of possession, but also with regard to how aggressively they press. Real Sociedad record the highest percentage of recoveries in the opposition’s half in the Spanish top flight, with almost 28% of their recoveries coming in this area of the pitch.

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.