Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Atletico are LALIGA’s most effective team in front of goal

‘Cholo’ Simeone’s men boast the highest figure in the division for shots on target as a percentage of total shots. This accuracy has major implications: it means that they take their shots from more advantageous positions. And this has helped them to establish themselves as the fourth-highest scorers in LALIGA. But the question remains: How do they manage to get in on goal so often? Among other things, they are the side who play the fifth-most passes in total, have the fourth-highest passing accuracy, and just miss the podium on passes in the final third and on forward passes. It is no coincidence that ‘El Cholo’ has his team sitting third in the league table.

Remarkable Coach

Ancelotti and shot creation

One of Real Madrid’s key strengths is their ability to create shooting opportunities. Their attacking phases are all-encompassing and incisive, placing Carlo Ancelotti’s charges top of the standings for shot assists, with almost 13 per game. This figure gives us a better understanding of the reasons why they are the outfit with the second-most total shots, the most shots on target, and the second-highest scorers in the league.

It is no mean feat getting into a position to finish, which is why their build-up play not only has to be precise, but also abundant. They have an 88% passing accuracy, the highest figure in the league, and they are also the team who play the most passes in the final third and the one who have accumulated the second-highest distance through carries. Ancelotti has a clear game plan and continues in his bid to construct one of the most complete teams in the league.

Key Player

Griezmann continues to conduct the Rojiblanco orchestra

He is among the top five LALIGA players for high-impact attacking actions. This is a hugely important role for Atletico, but there is much more to his game. He has the fourth-most assists in LALIGA, is the fifth-highest scorer and boasts the third-highest shooting accuracy. This has propelled him to fifth place in the league’s goalscoring standings, on a total of 11 for the season. However, he does not just stand out in terms of going forward; he has an excellent all-round game. He is the player who presses hardest for Atletico Madrid, with a total of 400 pressures so far this term.

These metrics and many others make him one of the standout players in the division, playing an equally important role for his team in the different phases and in the transitions.

The Match up

The shooting derby: Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid

The top team in the league on all-round shooting metrics, Real Madrid, take on the team in the division with the best shooting accuracy, Atletico Madrid. In the video, you can see how Ancelotti’s charges have racked up the greatest distance through carries.

In addition to the metrics which we have just mentioned, they are the second and fourth teams respectively with the most goals this season. In the radar chart accompanying this section, we can see how Real Madrid lead the way in terms of the total number of shots. However, when we dig into more qualitative aspects such as efficiency and shooting effectiveness, Atletico come out on top.

Remember his name

Tchouameni: everywhere all at once

The Frenchman has the ability to make quality contributions not just in defence, but also at key moments in the attacking phase. Furthermore, he is instrumental in playing the ball out and breaking lines, as evidenced by the fact that he is one of LALIGA’s ten most successful players on long passes. He is also one of the top 15 players with the most attacking actions in the league.

However, the most interesting stat, and one which he demonstrated yet again in the last outing, is that he is the LALIGA player who has scored the third-most goals from corners. His imposing physical presence allows him to form part of crucial actions all over the pitch.

Metric of the week

Passes in the final third

There are many contextual factors which we can use to complement our analysis of passing stats. Passes in and of themselves offer us limited information, but we can break them down into the area where they are played, the direction of the pass, pass length, etc. With all of these options on the table, today we are going to focus on passes played in the final third. These allow us to identify teams with good link-up play in the danger zone and they can even help us to identify teams who play with a high block. The LALIGA team who make the most passes in the final third are Real Madrid, with an average of 146 passes in the final third per match.

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.