Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Celta reliant on recoveries to hit top form

RC Celta currently lie fifth in the LaLiga EA Sports standings for the number of recoveries per game. The Galicians’ strong will to regain possession is a hallmark of a playing style that is beginning to take shape. Indeed, the boys from Balaidos win the ball back an impressive 78 times per outing. If we analyse this statistic in terms of where the recoveries take place on the pitch, we find that 14.5 of them occur in the opposition’s half. However, this doesn't place them amongst the top 10 teams in the league in this particular department. The graphic shows in which area of the pitch some of these recoveries are made, while the video gives us an insight into how Celta go about regaining possession.

Remarkable Coach

Ancelotti fires sharpshooters to top spot

Nobody in LaLiga EA Sports records more attempts on goal than Real Madrid, who chalk up no fewer than 18.7 per match. The Madrilenians also register the most attempts on target, with eight per game. These statistics go a long way to explain why Los Blancos currently lead the league standings. However, although the table toppers register the most attempts on goal, they are not the division’s top scorers. Carlo Ancelotti’s charges lie second in the league standings for passes completed in the final third (149 per game), which reflects the fact that their attempts on goal come about as a result of the team’s intricate passing moves in the attacking third. The video contains footage of one such attempt and the build-up that led to it, with the attempt created following some fine positional play from Luka Modric.

It is worth remembering that Ancelotti is one of the candidates in the running to claim the LaLiga Coach of the Month accolade for August, for which you can cast your vote.

Key Player

Kubo's brilliance extends beyond being LaLiga's second highest scorer

The La Real star Take Kubo is sitting pretty in second spot in the LaLiga goal charts, with three goals to his name. However, there is far more to his game than goals, with the talented trickster leading the way in the Basque side’s attempts on goal charts (2.4 per outing). He is also his team’s runner-up when it comes to attempts on target per game. He is a constant menace in the final third and is instrumental in breaking the opposition’s lines. He features amongst the top eight players in the division for high-impact actions and the graphic displays where exactly such involvements occur on the pitch.

The Match up

Los Blancos host La Real in post-international break showdown

As we commented on in the Standout Coach section, one of Real Madrid’s biggest strengths is their attacking prowess. If we take a look at their Matchday 5 opponents, we can see that the Basques also register some eye-catching numbers in this area. Imanol Alguacil’s charges are amongst the league’s top-five performing teams when it comes to the number of attempts required to score (just seven.) The San Sebastian-based outfit claim the final podium place for possession in the opposition’s half (over 37%). The contribution of players like Take Kubo are significant in the attacking phase of the game. The Japanese schemer features amongst the top eight players in the division when it comes to high-impact actions. In the video in this section, you can relive Ander Barrenetxea’s goal against Granada CF, which was teed up by Mikel Oyarzabal’s inch-perfect back-heel flick.

Remember his name

Cadiz benefit from all-action Ramos’s dribbling dexterity

Chris Ramos offers a high-octane, direct style of football that has become a firm fixture in the football played by Sergio Gonzalez’s men. The Cadiz ace features amongst the top 10 players in LaLiga EA Sports for the number of actions completed at over 24km/hr, with ten per outing. These actions also see the jet-heeled attacker feature amongst the division’s front runners for distance covered at this speed (almost 300m per outing). He leads the way in the Costa de la Luz outfit’s dribbling charts, posting a total of nine. In the graphic, we can see the areas of the pitch in which these high-intensity actions take place and the distances covered, with Ramos playing a central role in helping Los Cadistas to break through the opposition’s lines.

Metric of the week

Attacking depth

A team’s attacking depth is measured by calculating the share of passes made in the final third as a proportion of their total number of passes, i.e., it is not just a case of how many passes are completed in total, but the passes in the final third as a percentage of the total. Such information offers a good insight into a team’s positioning and playing style, helping us to identify sides that set up in a high block and those that enjoy possession in advanced areas of the pitch. FC Barcelona are LaLiga’s top dogs when it comes to the number of passes played in the final third (170 per game) and the side with the best attacking depth (nearly 25% of their passes are played 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.