Real Sociedad claim the final podium place in the Spanish top flight for dangerous recoveries, which occur when the player who regains possession does so at a point in time when there are more of their teammates ahead of the ball than opposition players. The Basque outfit are also handily placed in fourth position for the number of recoveries recorded per minute. In other words, not only do they excel in terms of the number of recoveries, but also when it comes to their quality.

If we look at Imanol Alguacil’s men’s positional set-up, we can see that they use the full width of the pitch. The boys from San Sebastian occupy fifth spot for the average overall position (48.4m), while they clinch fifth place in the league in terms of team width. La Real’s defensive line is the fourth highest in the division, a criterion that is based on the distance between their own goal and the backline. 

Villarreal, who are enduring some defensive woes, are bracing themselves to come up against the side that register the most attempts on goal in the division and will be trying to work out how to go about countering Real Madrid’s considerable attacking threat. However, for all of their troubles at the back, the Yellow Submarine are shining brightly in other areas. As displayed in the graphic below, the Castellon-based outfit record above-average scores in terms of combination play. They enjoy more possession than most sides in the league and their build-up play in the attacking third is high on quantity and quality. Indeed, Marcelino’s troops post above-average stats for forward passes, passes per possession and passes in the final third. The visitors are likely to look to counter the number of attempts on goal they are likely to face by trying to dominate possession and focus on progressing play.