Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Carries that clinch derbies

We have spent weeks focusing on different facets of Athletic Club, and for good reason. Today, following their great derby performance, our analysis necessarily focuses on their carries. We already know that they are a vigorous team who cover long distances at high intensities. They are also capable of combining this intensity with actions with the ball, courtesy of which they generate good carries. They are the LALIGA team with the most carries breaking the opposition’s midfield line. They are also among the top four teams in the division for high-impact carries, notching up almost three per game.

Remarkable Coach

Baraja remains immersed in transformation process

The changes taking place at Valencia are being spearheaded by players with a common trait: youth. Many of them are playing in the top flight for the first time, but they are producing solid football and making good progress. They are also highly proactive at regaining possession, evidenced by the fact that Valencia are the team in the competition who recover the most balls, at 74 per game. They are also fifth-ranked on clearances, and these defensive stats lead us to one of the most important metrics of Ruben Baraja’s side: Valencia are the team who concede the fewest shots in the entire division. Their figure stands at fewer than 10 per game (9.7), while the average is 12.6. The front line are also in fine fettle, and together with the defensive data which we have analysed, we can see them consolidating a style of play which is propelling them ever closer to European qualification.

The Match up

A clash with major implications for European qualification

Seventh and fourth places go head-to-head, although it is important to bear in mind that FC Barcelona have played one game less. Real Betis are the team who unleash the fifth-most shots and lie fourth in the competition on shot assists. They also stand out defensively as the team who require the third-most shots against them to concede. Barcelona, on the other hand, are the team who concede the fourth-fewest shots, the third-fewest shots on target, and are bridesmaids when it comes to fewest goalkeeper interventions.

This contrast between good defensive and attacking stats will surely serve up a thrilling encounter.

Remember his name

Kirian has what it takes to occupy the top rankings

We are contemplating the player with the most total attacking actions in the entire competition, with 82.8 per game. This figure highlights just how important the Canarian is for UD Las Palmas at the moment, but there are many more metrics that position him in the upper echelons of his squad. He takes the second-most shots for his team and is the player who places the most shots on target. He occupies the top spot in his team for goals scored and for shot conversion, at 23.8%. There is no question that Kirian Rodriguez’s exceptional stats, combined with the more emotive thrust of being a homegrown player, are reaping fantastic rewards.

Metric of the week

Shots per goal conceded

As on other occasions, we connect simple metrics to create others offering greater insight. In this case, by taking account of shots conceded and goals conceded, we can find out how many shots, on average, a team concedes before conceding a goal. This figure helps to define the defensive solidity of a team. Real Madrid are the team whose opponents have to take the most shots against them in order to score.

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.