Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Lewandowski remains on target

Barcelona have taken the second highest number of shots in the competition. The reason for this group-level stat becomes clear upon confirmation that Lewandowski, their attacking bellwether, has fired off the second most shots and placed the most shots on target in all of LaLiga Santander. The video accompanying the segment shows an example of this. It is no coincidence that the player and his team both feature prominently here.

If we dig a little deeper into the type of shots unleashed by the Pole shown in the graphics, we see that his speciality is the middle and lower area of the goal. Furthermore, while there is some variability in his shooting positions, the majority of his strikes emanate from central areas and predominantly from inside the penalty area.

Remarkable Coach

Javier Aguirre, the manager on a roll with the stats to back him

The latest goal-fest helped to convince fans that Mallorca are sitting in eighth place in LaLiga Santander for good reason. Aguirre has a specific style with a penchant for direct football. His team are bridesmaids in the league on the average pass length metric, showing their penchant for longer passes. This approach comes with a greater risk of giving the ball away, but when executed effectively it allows them to break through the lines. Clearly, taking opposition players out of the game with every pass is part of Aguirre’s strategy. The question is: Just how high can Mallorca climb this season?

Key Player

Griezmann retains the crown

The Frenchman has fired off the seventh highest number of shots in LaLiga, stands sixth when it comes to getting them on target, and is in amongst the top ten in the goalscoring standings. This is no coincidence, and despite having retreated positionally a few metres back down the pitch, he has maintained his ability to find the back of the net and upped his creative contributions.

As we can see in the video and the graphic, Griezmann is third in terms of his involvement in high-impact actions, which are those that have an influence on a subsequent shot on goal. We can also see where they originate. The majority stem from the left wing, but he pops up on both flanks, as well as centrally. In the case of Vinicius, we saw that all of his play is funnelled down the left channel.

The Match up

The imminent Madrid derby features a host of notable stats and players

Second and fourth place lock horns with a 10-point gap between them, and the rivalry will be dialled back up to the max in this hotly anticipated derby bout. Their styles of play are markedly different. Real Madrid stand out on many of the metrics related to carries breaking through lines and link-up play, as well as, for example, the number of passes per possession and the number of players involved in each possession. Conversely, El Cholo’s charges are experts when it comes to the well-executed press, which is one of his team’s calling cards.

However, if forced to single out one player, we would have to plump for Vinicius due to his ability to influence the game. In the video we can see how he acts as provider – as one of the top ten players in the division when it comes to assists – showing that not only is he a fine finisher, but also a prized creative asset. In the graphics accompanying the segment we can also see the nature of Vinicius’s shot assists, as well his general assists, although they do not culminate in a shot on goal. There is no denying his predilection for the left flank.

Remember his name

Sergi Darder, a high-impact player

As we can see in the video, Darder is the RCD Espanyol player with the most high-impact carries, or put another way, the most carries that end up with a shot on goal. These threatening moves are hugely valuable for a team such as Espanyol, but Darder has more stats in his locker.

Carries breaking the opposition’s midfield line are another of his specialties, showing that he can cause havoc in different areas of the pitch. In the graphic, we can see whereabouts on the field of play Darder drives past midfielders. He is a key player in these moves which help his team to penetrate offensively, and his directness is a feature of the Catalans’ play.

Metric of the week

Convex Hull in possession

Spaces, along with creating and closing them down, are a crucial part of football. Which is why the area occupied by a team in different phases of play acts as a defining characteristic of each side.

The Convex Hull is the area occupied by a team on the pitch at different points in time. We measure it in square metres and in this instance we are focusing on the Convex Hull in possession.

It comprises the surface area occupied by a team when they have ball, so in the attacking phase. Larger areas can be indicative of a broader range of spaces and options for building the play and a team’s penetration. What’s more, they imply a tougher defensive task for the opposing team. In the video, we can see the Convex Hull of Real Betis when in possession.

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.